Ruling expected soon in California redistricting lawsuit

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(The Center Square) – Arguments in the California redistricting lawsuit were heard in a federal courthouse in Los Angeles earlier this week, attorneys involved in the case told The Center Square.

They expect a ruling soon.

The case, which actually involved two lawsuits over the November 2025 redistricting election in the Golden State, were consolidated in court in recent months. Plaintiffs argue California’s redistricting constitutes a racial gerrymander, which is illegal. Defendants say the newly-drawn electoral maps are a politically-partisan gerrymander, which is legal.

“There’s a lot argued about standing, who can bring a case,” J. Christian Adams, an attorney for the Public Interest Legal Foundation and lawyer for the plaintiff, told The Center Square. “Our position is that when you’re segregated on the basis of race, you’re injured, just like Rosa Parks was injured when she sat on the back of the bus. We just don’t segregate on the basis of race, and that’s when the injury occurs, in our view.”

It’s nearly impossible to figure out how judges will react to arguments from both sides, Adams said.

“I can’t speak for the judges. You don’t know what goes on in their heads,” Adams said. “They don’t tell you ‘I agree’ or ‘I disagree.' They ask questions and then take it under advisement. It’s really not possible to know.”

Tangipa vs. Newsom, one of the two lawsuits recently consolidated in court, was heard in federal district court in December 2025, as reported by The Center Square. In the court proceedings for that lawsuit, lawyers representing the plaintiffs said the electoral maps approved by California voters during the November 2025 special election were illegal. The maps undermine the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to that argument.

The other case was Noyes vs. Newsom.

The Center Square previously reported that attorneys for the defense, representing Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, said that the gerrymander, rather than being a racial one, was a political one. The maps were drawn to favor Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections and were a response to Texas’ own redistricting effort in the summer of 2025. The Lone Star State’s own mid-decade redistricting push favored Republicans, who may pick up five new seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Assemblymember David Tangipa, R-Fresno, was the main plaintiff in that case. Tangipa did not respond to The Center Square before publication time on Friday. The Governor’s Press Office and Democratic lawmakers also did not respond to requests for comment.