The California State Legislature hit the ground running upon its return to Sacramento on August 18th, which was met with a lot of political anticipation as the Legislature had five-days to act on the Governor’s Congressional redistricting package to ensure Proposition 50 made it on the ballot this November.
The Governor initiated his redistricting plan in response to Texas Republicans redrawing their maps in an effort to secure five additional GOP seats in Congress. Now that Prop 50 is officially on for the November 2025 ballot, Assembly Republican Leader Gallagher has introduced Assembly Joint Resolution (AJR) 23, proposing a (very unlikely) “two state solution.”
As a reminder, back in 2008, voters already spoke on the issue of the Legislature redrawing congressional maps when they passed the Voters FIRST Act, establishing the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw new district lines.
There has also been a recent shakeup in California’s Gubernatorial race. Former Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced that she will not be throwing her name in the hat for California’s next Governor. Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis has also dropped out of the race, now running for State Treasurer. While there is no clear frontrunner yet, early polling indicates that these changes have been to the benefit of former Congressmember Katie Porter. All of which could change as U.S. Senator Alex Padilla considers running for Governor, which would be a free ride for Alex as he would not have to vacate his US Senate seat.
Although the Governor’s redistricting plan has garnered a lot of recent attention, the State Legislature is still working diligently to act upon all remaining legislative proposals before them ahead of the September 12th deadline and 2025 adjournment.
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