Voters crushingly approved Proposition 50 on Tuesday night, which will redraw districts. The lawsuit contends that it favors Latinos, a group that is no longer a minority in the state.
By Catholics for Catholics
In the aftermath of the Tuesday California elections, Republicans in that state filed on Wednesday a federal lawsuit, contending that the congressional map drawn by Democrats and approved by voters unconstitutionally gives preference to Latinos.
According to The Daily Wire, the lawsuit was filed by the Dhillon Law Group on behalf of the California Republican Party, state Rep. David Tangipa, and 18 California voters. The suit contends that Proposition 50 encroaches upon the Equal Protection Clause.
“This violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law, and the right under the 15th Amendment to not have one’s vote abridged on account of race,” Dhillon Law Group partner Mike Columbo said at a press conference. “When drawing the Proposition 50 map, the chief consultant who drew the map stated that the first thing that he did was to increase the power of Latino voters. Additionally, the state legislature has announced that the maps increase the power of Latino voters,” Columbo added.
On Tuesday, voters overpoweringly approved Prop 50 with 64% support. The measure was placed on the ballot after the Democratic-led state legislature approved new congressional maps; it was an answer to Texas passing a new map that will probably give Republicans five more House seats.
Proposition 50’s approval will likely add five more U.S. House seats for the Democratic party. Harmeet Dhillon led the Dhillon Law Group before President Donald Trump tapped her to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division earlier this year.
Proposition 50, according to the complaint, swelled the number of districts where Hispanic voters are likely to play a key role, rising from 14 to 16 of California’s 52 congressional districts. In a 1986 ruling, the Supreme Court established a three-part test, known as the “Gingles Test,” to permit states to redraw district lines to give racial minorities greater influence over who is elected to represent them.
But the Republican suit argues that California’s new map does not meet the requirements of the Gingles Test since Latinos make up the largest ethnic group in California and are not a racial minority in the Golden State.
“We believe that the Supreme Court Gingles Test cannot be satisfied by the state, as such under the 14th and 15th Amendments, the maps drawn by Prop 50 will be considered unconstitutional,” said Dhillon Law Group attorney Mark Meuser, who was the GOP Senate candidate in California in 2022.
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