Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Sen. Alex Padilla propose a bill to ban mid-cycle redistricting

"The Redistricting Reform Act of 2025 would end gerrymandering and put a stop to the current redistricting war taking place across the country, said the bill's authors, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Zoe Lofgren of San Jose. It would prohibit mid-cycle redistricting, like what is happening in a few states around the country this year, unless ordered by a court."

"Both the Texas and Missouri legislatures recently passed mid-cycle redistricting plans, but their actions are being challenged in court. Other red states like Indiana and Florida are considering similar actions meant to benefit Republicans in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. Meanwhile, California voters will decide in a special election in November on a proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats to redraw the state's congressional boundary lines to benefit Democrats, a gerrymandering effort they've touted as a counter to the Republican-led states."

""We believe in a better way forward and so today we're offering Republicans this off-ramp," Padilla, a former California secretary of state, said during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Sept. 18. "Let's come together behind the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025, a commonsense solution to the partisan power grabs that we're witnessing.""

Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025 to ban mid-decade redistricting and require every state to adopt nonpartisan, independent redistricting commissions for congressional maps. The bill would prohibit mid-cycle redistricting except when ordered by a court, aiming to stop partisan gerrymandering and end a nationwide redistricting conflict. Recent mid-cycle plans in Texas and Missouri face legal challenges, and other Republican-led states are considering similar moves ahead of 2026. California plans a November special election to redraw congressional boundaries to favor Democrats. Lofgren previously introduced similar reform efforts and cites a 2021 House passage that stalled in the Senate.

Read at The Mercury News