Republican congressmen react to Prop. 50 passage

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(The Center Square) - In the hours after California’s Proposition 50 passed by a wide margin, Republican congressional members at risk of losing their seats expressed dismay and disappointment - along with their intention to run again.

Prop. 50, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to create five new seats in Congress for Democratic lawmakers during the 2026 midterm elections, is a response to Texas’ own redistricting effort earlier this year. The Lone Star State is widely expected to pick up five new seats for Republicans in the 2026 midterm election in the U.S. House.

“I’m disappointed in tonight’s results,” wrote U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Yuba City, in a Facebook post after Tuesday's election. “Our constitution lost out to a pile of money and shameful deception, in one of the most blatant power grabs I've ever seen. Should these results stick, the imbalance in California between rural and urban voices will get that much worse, essentially silencing our portion of the state.”

According to the Secretary of State’s website, 5,154,534 voters, or 63.8%, voted to pass Prop. 50, while 2,927,926, or 36.2%, voted against the initiative. All precincts had reported their results to the Secretary of State's Office as of Wednesday.

However, the results of the election still have a few more weeks before they’re finalized, Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a press release issued on the night of Nov. 4.

“On Election Night, we will have a good picture of the outcome of this ballot measure, but it will take weeks to know the final result. This is normal,” Weber said. “By law, county elections officials have 30 days to count every valid ballot and conduct a post-election audit. California elections officials prioritize the right to vote and election security over rushing the vote count.

“We have a process that by law ensures both voting rights and the integrity of elections, so I would call on all Californians to be patient," Weber added.

Weber and her staff were not available for comment on Wednesday.

The results of the election will be certified by Dec. 12.

“There are still going to be a lot of ballots to be counted,” Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz and the chair of the Assembly Elections Committee, told The Center Square on Tuesday night.

The newly-drawn maps adopted by California’s voters with the passage of Prop. 50 will be in effect for elections in 2026, 2028 and 2030.

Most of the five Republican House members who are at risk of losing their seats released statements on social media on Tuesday night. They voiced their disappointment with the passage of Prop. 50.

“While I believe the conduct of this election, from the rushed timing to the suspension of voter protections, fell well short of the ideals we ought to strive for in our democratic process, nevertheless, the people of California have spoken,” said U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, in a video statement posted to his Facebook page on Tuesday.

He added that he worried about California’s redistricting effort and that other states would follow suit and start their own mid-decade redistricting campaigns.

“With California’s new gerrymander, the redistricting arms race has no end in sight,” Kiley said in the video. “North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana for Republicans. Illinois, Maryland, Virginia for Democrats, and to what end? It’s a race to the bottom that degrades democracy everywhere.”

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Santee, also released a statement on Thursday night, saying on X that he found it “difficult to watch” the results from an election that he believes will give an unfair advantage to Democrats with districts that favor them.

“I know how many of my friends and constituents feel about tonight’s election results and the unprecedented purely partisan campaign that pitted neighbor against neighbor and divided the state as never before,” Issa wrote on X.

However, he added, “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll continue to represent the people of California — regardless of their party or where they live.”

U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Riverside County, released a statement posted on Facebook late Thursday to announce he would run again in the new 40th district.

“Californians in the newly drawn 40th district deserve a proven conservative they can trust and a fighter who has delivered results for Riverside and Orange Counties for decades,” wrote Calvert in the statement. “I’ve lived here my entire life and already represent the majority of this district in Congress. I look forward to helping President Trump to deliver lower taxes, to bring down housing costs, secure our borders, make our streets safe and bring real results for the families of this district for years to come.”

U.S. Rep. David Valadao, R-Bakersfield, also released a joint statement on Facebook on Wednesday with his congressional counterparts who also lost their seats.

"The results of California's special election are a disappointing setback for fairness and democracy in our state," Valadao and the others said in the statement. "No political party should have the authority to rig the rules to keep themselves in power, and this is a loss for the very principles of representation a functioning democracy relies on."