The political tug-of-war over congressional redistricting has escalated in recent weeks with California and Texas emerging as ground zero in a high-stakes national fight. Redistricting, when done correctly, is a critical process of rebalancing electoral maps based on census numbers, and it impacts communities’ businesses, regulations, and broader economic climate. For communities like Lodi, the current redistricting proposal would reshape how we are represented in Washington for the next decade.

What’s at Stake
On a recent CalChamber legislative call I was on, policy staff emphasized the unusual dynamics of this year’s redistricting push. California lawmakers are advancing a constitutional amendment that would allow mid-decade congressional redistricting, designed to counter a similar effort in Texas. The measure would bypass the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (established by Proposition 11 in 2008) and give the Legislature power to redraw congressional maps for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections, before reverting back to the commission in 2032.
This move is highly partisan in nature. CalChamber officials predicted it will likely be “the most partisan ballot measure California has ever seen,” with Governor Newsom backing the effort and former President Trump pushing for Republican-led changes in Texas. The stakes are enormous and as many as five congressional seats could be reshuffled in California alone, potentially tipping control of the U.S. House.

Prop 11 and Independent Redistricting
California voters passed Proposition 11, the Voters FIRST Act, in 2008 to end the conflict of interest inherent in legislators drawing their own districts. The measure created a 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission, balanced between Democrats, Republicans, and independents, that was tasked with drawing fair and competitive electoral maps.

This reform was widely praised for restoring trust and ensuring that communities remained more intact in representation. Prop 11 was built on the principle that politicians should not be allowed to choose their voters. The current push to bypass that process undermines the spirit of Prop 11, even if it is being presented as a temporary and/or emergency defensive measure against Texas.

Gerrymandering Across the Nation
California’s independent system still has not protected it from distortion in representation. CA is very much aligned in numbers with states where partisan gerrymandering distorts representation:

• California: Democrats secured 60% of votes but won 83% of seats. Republicans, while receiving nearly 40% of votes, gained less than 20% of the seats. This gap signals that California’s district maps are structured to significantly favor the Democratic Party under current configurations.
• North Carolina: In 2020, Republicans won just over half the statewide vote for Congress, but secured 8 of 13 seats.
• Ohio: Courts repeatedly ruled that maps drawn by the Legislature unfairly favored Republicans, with disproportionate seat counts compared to statewide voting percentages.
• Illinois: Illinois’s 2021 congressional map has been graded an “F” for both partisan fairness and geographic compactness by Princeton’s nonpartisan Gerrymandering Project. Only 3 of 17 U.S. House seats are held by Republicans, despite Trump earning 44% of the statewide vote in 2024.

These disparities show how manipulated district maps can silence large portions of the electorate. Businesses, which thrive on predictability and fair policymaking, often suffer when one-party dominance removes the incentives for compromise and accountability. Competitive districts produce representatives who must win persuadable voters who tend to prize compromise and deal-making. This reduces policy whiplash, increases reliability on permitting, workforce, and infrastructure bills, and makes federal–local partnerships easier to plan around. Metrics back this up as members from swing seats consistently rank higher on bipartisan lawmaking, and electoral competition is positively linked to greater responsiveness to median-voter preferences (See Lugar’s Bi-partisan Index).

Both parties need to focus on legislative outcomes, not artificially protecting congressional districts. There are ample issues that can be improved and resolved with bi-partisan support that would provide organic support for incumbents and improve quality of life for all Americans. Who knows, maybe that would increase Congress’ approval rating above 23%...