BREAKING: State of California and DCCC Trying to Change Rules Already Agreed to in Prop 50 Lawsuit

California Governor Gavin Newsom unconstitutionally overturned the voter-approved California Redistricting Commission with Proposition 50, which was just passed by voters. That is bad enough, but the new congressional district maps were drawn based on racial lines, a recent lawsuit alleges.

The Dhillon Law Group, Assemblyman David Tangipa, 18 California Voters, and the California Republican Party announced Wednesday November 5, 2025 that they filed a Federal lawsuit challenging Prop. 50, alleging it unconstitutionally racially gerrymanders districts in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.

The bottom line: “When a state unlawfully engages in racial gerrymandering, it also violates the Fifteenth Amendment, which provides that the right of citizens to vote cannot be denied or abridged on account of race or color,” the lawsuit says.

Attorney Mark Meuser, Constitutional and Election Law Attorney with Dhillon Law Group, tells us that as of today, the state of California and the DCCC are trying to change the rules already agreed upon in order to delay a hearing on this case until January 20, well after the December date those running for Congress will know what district they are running in.

“8 days after Plaintiffs filed their complaint in which they allege that Prop 50’s map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, the state of California, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), along with plaintiffs entered into a stipulation for a briefing schedule,” Meuser told the Globe. “Plaintiffs have asked the Court for an order by December 5 so that those running for Congress know what district they are running in. December 19 is the first day candidates for Congress can gather signatures in lieu of a filing fee. In light of the joint stipulation, the Court has told the state of California and the DCCC to file their opposition to our motion for a preliminary injunction by tomorrow (Nov. 21) and the hearing on our motion for preliminary injunction (i.e. which set of maps will control the 2026 election – the 2021 commission map or Prop. 50’s map) has been scheduled for Dec. 3.”

“Now, 2 days before their opposition to the motion is due, the state of California and the DCCC are trying to change the rules that they already agreed to. They want to delay a hearing on this case until January 20,” Meuser said.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. It is clear with this filing last night that the state of California and the DCCC are trying to run out the clock on justice. By running out the clock, the state of California and the DCCC hope that the Court will just rule that it is too late and that the Prop 50 maps (even if they are an unconstitutional gerrymander) must control for the 2026 election cycle. Plaintiffs’ attorneys at the Dhillon Law Group are zealously pursuing this case in an expedited matter to ensure that the Courts have plenty of time to issue a decision on the important underlying issue of whether Prop 50’s map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander thus requiring that the 2021 Commission maps remain in effect for the 2026 election cycle.”

As the Globe reported, the lawsuit says:

“The California Legislature issued a press release announcing that Proposition 50 creates two new districts to “empower Latino voters to elect their candidates of choice,” adding them to the pre-existing fourteen such districts. The Legislature characterized these sixteen districts as “Voting Rights Act districts,” meaning districts that are specifically designed to favor one race or ethnicity of voters. The consultant who drew the lines also explained that the first thing that he did when drawing the Proposition 50 map was to add a “Latino District” that the Independent Citizens District had previously eliminated and that he altered the lines of a district to make it a “Latino-influenced district” by ensuring its voting age population was “35 percent Latino.”

The lawsuit states that because California’s Hispanic voters are well represented by Latino candidates to both state and federal office: “California’s Hispanic voters have successfully elected their preferred candidates to both state and federal office, without being thwarted by a racial majority voting as a bloc. This is unsurprising because Latinos are the most numerous demographic in the state and California voters nearly always vote based on their party affiliation, not their race.”

Read more about the lawsuit here.

Will the court allow the State and DCCC to get away with these shenanigans? The Globe will follow up and report back.