As voters across the United States head to the polls for the midterm elections – widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term in office – the state of California is set to play an important role. Several races across the country’s most populous state could help determine whether the Democratic Party takes control of the US House of Representatives, where Trump’s Republican Party currently holds a slim majority. California’s ballot initiatives – or policy decisions made by voters – have also received national attention.
Perhaps the biggest difference in this year’s elections, however, is the introduction of new congressional district maps drawn up through a partisan redistricting initiative approved by California voters last year. That initiative aims to net at least five additional Democratic Party seats in the House, where Republicans have a four-seat majority. Which California races are competitive, who are the main candidates and how has the state’s redistricting push changed the electoral landscape?
The election will be held on Tuesday, November 3. California polls will be open from 7am ( ) to 8pm ( Wednesday). Mail ballots must be postmarked by election day.
The House is divided into 435 districts, each represented by one member of Congress elected by their constituents. While congressional districts are populated equally, their boundaries are set by states and can shift. Partisan redistricting involves states drawing those district maps in a way that advantages candidates from one party over another.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and Trump critic, first proposed a one-time statewide redistricting effort in response to seven Republican-led states redrawing their maps in an attempt to secure seats for Republicans. Although California had banned partisan redistricting, Newsom pitched the idea as an unfortunate but necessary retaliatory measure. California voters approved the redistricting plan in a 2025 ballot measure – Proposition 50 – that temporarily suspended the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission until 2030.
California then drew new maps to make several Republican strongholds more competitive for Democratic challengers. As a result, the handful of districts previously seen as favourable terrain for Republicans have instead become hotly-contested races between the two parties. California has 52 members in the House of Representatives – the most of any state – with Republicans holding just eight of the seats.
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