California’s Democratic-controlled legislature has published a draft congressional map that would markedly strengthen the party’s hold on the nation’s largest House delegation. Released late Friday, the plan is part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Election Rigging Response Act,” a bid to counter a Republican effort in Texas to redraw its own districts before the 2026 midterms. Non-partisan tallies show the draft would raise the number of safe or likely Democratic seats to 48 from 43, while reducing Republican-held districts to four from nine. Five GOP incumbents—Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao, Ken Calvert and Darrell Issa—see their districts reconfigured to favor Democrats. For example, LaMalfa’s CA-1 shifts from a 25-point Trump advantage in 2024 to a 12-point edge for Vice President Kamala Harris, and Kiley’s CA-3 moves from Trump +4 to Harris +10. Lawmakers return from recess on 18 August and have until 22 August to pass enabling legislation by two-thirds majorities in both chambers. If approved, voters would decide the map in a 4 November special election; the lines would take effect for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 cycles, but only if Texas or another Republican-led state proceeds with mid-decade redistricting. Eight of California’s 52 districts remain unchanged, and the proposal would split fewer cities than the map adopted after the 2020 Census.