By Stephen Hobbs | Sacramento Bee
The California Supreme Court docket on Wednesday rejected an effort by Republican legislators to delay Democrats from gerrymandering the state’s congressional districts.
The justices stated the authorized problem, filed earlier this week, “failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under” the California Structure.
A gaggle of 4 Southern California Republican legislators argued Democrats have been violating state regulation by not ready 30 days to take up payments associated to the trouble and had requested the Supreme Court docket to drive them to take action.
“We will continue to challenge this unconstitutional power grab in the courts and at the ballot box,” the legislators stated in a press release after the ruling. “Californians deserve fair, transparent elections, not secret backroom deals to protect politicians.”
State Sens. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Seaside, and Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Acton, and Assemblymembers Tri Ta, R-Westminster, and Kate Sanchez, R-Trabuco Canyon, made the request.
Former President Barack Obama endorsed the plans to redraw congressional districts if Texas or one other Republican-led state does so to extend the GOP’s possibilities of sustaining management of Congress after subsequent 12 months’s midterm election.
Obama stated that whereas he opposes partisan gerrymandering, Republicans in Texas appearing at President Trump’s behest have pressured Democrats’ hand.
If Democrats “don’t respond effectively, then this White House and Republican-controlled state governments all across the country, they will not stop, because they do not appear to believe in this idea of an inclusive, expansive democracy,” he stated at a fundraiser Tuesday in Martha’s Winery that was first reported by the Related Press on Wednesday.
“I wanted just a fair fight between Republicans and Democrats based on who’s got better ideas, and take it to the voters and see what happens,” Obama stated, “… but we cannot unilaterally allow one of the two major parties to rig the game. And California is one of the states that has the capacity to offset a large state like Texas.”
The Los Angeles Instances contributed to this report.
Initially Printed: August 20, 2025 at 8:36 PM PDT
