Folsom, Placer County lawmakers prepare for fierce battle over Congressional maps

California is headed for a special election in November after the State Legislature passed a package of bills which would allow Democrat lawmakers to redraw Congressional maps. The maps would be changed to favor Democrats and help them pick up as many as five additional seats in Congress. This November, California voters will be asked if they approve of a temporary override of the state constitution, which currently states only an independent commission can draw congressional maps, not politicians. Representatives from the Folsom and Placer County region are speaking out about the broader implications of this special election, and two local Congressmen may soon find themselves in a fight for their districts if voters approve Proposition 50. The redistricting effort comes as a political counter to the Texas Legislature which, according to political analysts, was under pressure from President Donald Trump to redraw its Congressional lines to help the GOP hold onto its narrow majority in the House in the 2026 midterm elections. However, California abides by different rules than Texas. In 2008, California voters supported the creation of a bipartisan independent citizen commission, which is tasked with drawing a new Congressional map once every decade, after the U.S. Census report is completed. This decision by voters removed the power to gerrymander from state politicians. The last time the map was drawn was in 2021. While the commission's most recent maps from 2021 did not come without debate or controversy, the commission is widely viewed as an attempt to remove partisan politics from the map-drawing effort; recent statewide polls, including one by Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab, reflect ongoing voter support for the commission. Governor Gavin Newsom fast-tracked this effort to redraw Congressional maps that are more favorable to Democrats so the issue could make it onto the November ballot. The proposition calls for giving politicians power to redraw Congressional lines for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections and would potentially eliminate five Republican-held seats in California. Assemblyman Josh Hoover(R) whose district represents the Folsom area, said in an interview it's concerning the governor and many Democrats in the Legislature are trying to override the will of the people, who have shown they still support the role of the independent commission. "That is the model that the nation should be following, is lines that are not drawn by politicians and that are not partisan," declared Hoover. "And I think unfortunately the current effort to throw those maps out until the end of the decade is backtracking on that." Senator Roger Niello (R), whose district represents parts of Sacramento and Placer counties, echoed Hoover's concerns. "On the Republican side, we have significant concerns about this because it will basically disenfranchise a significant number of Republican voters," explained Niello during an interview. "The objective is to reduce the representation down to two or three Republicans when we have close to 30 percent of registrations, and in the last election, almost 40 percent of the people voted for President Trump. So it's a horrible misrepresentation, a result that gives us significant concern and for perhaps even the survival of the redistricting commission itself." One of the many bones of contention for Republicans, according to Hoover, is the projected cost of this special election; he predicts it will cost upward of $250 million. "We're in the middle of a budget deficit and we've been talking about all these great programs we have to cut, that we've had to take money away from, and yet we have $250 million for this so it's pretty frustrating," said Hoover. Newsom has said bypassing the commission is only temporary and in response to Trump's political moves, but Republican lawmakers are concerned the underlying agenda of the Democrat party is to methodically get rid of the commission and claw back redistricting power. Hoover, along with other Republican lawmakers, argues that drawing Congressional maps should remain non-partisan; their efforts will focus on preserving the commission and making sure the public is clear on what it's voting for in the November election. "I think how Texas is doing it and the fact that they're doing it for partisan purposes is also wrong. I would 100-percent agree. And I've actually told some of my constituents that have some concerns about what Texas is doing that I do as well," said Hoover. "And I don't think any state should be using redistricting for partisan purposes, but I certainly don't think that two wrongs make a right." One Congressman who will be directly affected by the new maps is Kevin Kiley's District 3, which covers the eastern border of California currently. The new district lines would combine the current more conservative-leaning Eastern Sierra with the more liberal-leaning voters of Sacramento. Kiley (R) has spoken out against mid-decade redistricting. "I think that having mid-decade redistricting this year cascade across the country in some sort of domino effect will be a huge distraction and a very unhealthy thing for representative government," he explained. "Indeed, gerrymandering is a plague on our democracy. It is a process by which politicians seek to gain more power for themselves. When we have fair districts, then voters are in charge of the direction of our country, but when districts get distorted by politicians, then the politicians are in charge. That is what this gerrymandering scheme in California is ultimately about, an attempt to take power away from voters and put it in the hands of politicians at the expense of keeping communities together." On Aug. 8, Kiley introduced legislation that would prohibit mid-decade redistricting nationwide. The bill would nullify new maps adopted by states after the November 2024 election. "I am calling upon Speaker Mike Johnson to establish a bipartisan commission for redistricting reform that we can enact before the 2030 Census," Kiley shared. "I believe there is widespread support across the country for going back or having district lines drawn in a fair and impartial way, so that voters are themselves in control of the destiny of our country." Kiley believes both parties will be affected by the redistricting war between the states. "I think that because we're seeing the scope of this redistricting war potentially broaden, you're going to see more and more people on both sides of the aisle who are affected," he explained. "And by the way, that doesn't just refer to people who might lose their seats, it refers to everyone, because when you redraw a map, you know it has spillover effects for representatives across the state. And so you have people who have represented their district for maybe for years, and have gotten to know a community, have gotten to know the people there, have gotten to know their issues. Those people have chosen that person to be their representative again and again, and then just all of a sudden, out of the blue, arbitrarily, those communities get tossed out of their district. I mean, that's highly disruptive." Kiley shared he thinks he will be fine at the end of the day if new boundaries were created. "I would nevertheless be in a position to win whatever district they create because of what we focus on in this office right here, which is not putting politics first. It's constituent service," he said. "It's focusing on issues that are important to the folks that we represent."Congressman Tom McClintock (R) is also potentially affected by the redistricting. McClintock represents District 5, which is just east of Sacramento and stretches from El Dorado Hills to areas south of Fresno. McClintock has served District 5 since 2023, and the region has been a Republican stronghold for many years. McClintock criticized California Democrats for pushing through new maps without public input or transparency. "California districts were drawn as the result of consensus after many months of public hearings with input from every constituency and community," said McClintock in a statement. "The 'Newsomander' was done by rank politicians behind closed doors in a few days." The new maps, which were drawn by Democrats without Republican input, are available to view on the State Assembly website at https://aelc.assembly.ca.gov/proposed-congressional-map