California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature on Thursday approved, and Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately signed, a package of three bills that puts a newly drawn congressional map before voters in a Nov. 4 special election. The map is tailored to make up to five currently Republican districts competitive for Democrats in the 2026 midterms. The measures cleared the Assembly 57–20 and the Senate 30–9, largely along party lines. They temporarily sideline the state’s voter-created independent redistricting commission until 2030 and amend the constitution to allow mid-decade remapping. If voters endorse the plan, California’s 52 House districts would shift for the next three election cycles before the commission resumes control after the 2030 census. Democratic leaders cast the fast-track effort as a counterweight to a Republican map passed in Texas a day earlier at the urging of President Donald Trump, which is expected to net the GOP five seats. California Republicans denounced the legislation as partisan gerrymandering, have filed suit and called for a federal investigation, but the state Supreme Court dismissed an emergency bid to halt Thursday’s vote. The coming ballot campaign is expected to be costly and contentious, with national implications for control of the U.S. House.