California Supreme Court rejects challenge to Democratic redistricting bills

The California Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to two redistricting bills advanced by Democrats.

"The petition for writ of mandate and application for stay are denied. Petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8," the court wrote in a denial on Wednesday evening in Strickland v. Weber, S292490 (Cal. Sup. Ct., filed Aug. 19, 2025).

Four Republican lawmakers filed the petition on Tuesday. They claimed lawmakers violated the California Constitution when they used the gut and amend process on two bills, AB 604 and SB 280. The two measures both dealt with different subjects until they were rewritten to advance an initiative that would allow voters to suspend California's nonpartisan redistricting body until after the 2030 Census.

This came in response to calls from President Donald Trump for Texas and other Republican-led states to conduct mid-decade redistricting to help Republicans keep the U.S. House of Representatives.