With Virginia’s new congressional declared unconstitutional, Democrats are well on the back foot in the fight to gain seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Things could go from bad to worse if Senator Eric Schmitt’s play to take out California’s radical map moves forward.
Virginia's map just got struck down. Is California next?
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) May 8, 2026
California's "mapmaker" drew its new maps to "ensure" that racially gerrymandered "VRA seats are bolstered in order to make them most effective." That's illegal under Callais.@AAGDhillon: Here's how we can do it. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/rjzERyfsuF
Schmitt argues that’s independent commission was subverted by Governor Gavin Newsom and state Democrats, who employed their own favored mapmaker. That mapmaker drew California’s map to protect and expand a racial gerrymander, a practice which was recently struck down by a Supreme Court decision to reign in the VRA.
California state law requires an "independent" Commission to draw its district maps.
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) May 8, 2026
But Newsom and state Legislature Dems overrode the Commission last year to gerrymander.
That meant hiring a "mapmaker"—Paul Mitchell—to do it.
But he drew an illegal racial gerrymander. pic.twitter.com/Qm9JSpN3xx
Gavin Newsom’s map has the same problem Democrats always have: they cannot stop dividing Americans by race.
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) May 8, 2026
Callais makes clear that the VRA is not a permission slip for racial sorting.
DOJ should act fast. https://t.co/F1zjEDJIle
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Schmitt has even provided clear evidence to prove that the new map is racially based, with the mapmaker himself gloating on social media about the “increase[d] Latino voting power” that would produce “one more Latino influence district.”
If California were to lose their new map, the totality of Democrat redistricting efforts would result in only a single pick up. Republicans have managed to add an astounding 17 safe districts through their rapid redraws following Virginia’s decision to produce the now-unconstitutional map.
What seemed like a bleak prospect at the GOP retaining the House just weeks ago has now turned into a nightmare scenario for Democrats.
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