The political careers of Inland Reps. Ken Calvert and Darrell Issa would be endangered if changes proposed by Democrats to California’s congressional districts are approved by voters.
The redrawn maps, unveiled Friday afternoon, Aug. 15, would radically reshape the Inland Empire’s political landscape and put Calvert, R-Corona, and Issa, a San Diego Republican who represents southwest Riverside County, in hostile territories compared to their current districts.
As for Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia, a proposed district would be similar to the one he currently represents.
“We strongly believe that this map serves the best interest of California voters, while also attempting to push back against the corrupt scheme occurring in Texas and other Republican-majority states where Republicans — doing the bidding of their DC party bosses — are considering adopting a clearly racially gerrymandered, partisan map at the expense of their voters,” Julie Merz, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee executive director, said in a letter attached to the proposed maps.
Calvert took to social media Friday to denounce the redrawn districts.
“I’m committed to defeating Newsom’s power grab in this special election,” the congressmember posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Voters decided to give redistricting powers to the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and take it away from politicians drawing their own districts.”
“The gerrymandered maps released today are exactly why voters don’t trust Sacramento politicians. I will fight to keep redistricting power with our citizens.”
Calvert currently represents a district that includes Calimesa, Canyon Lake, Indian Wells, Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Menifee, Norco, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Wildomar and parts of Corona, Eastvale and Riverside. Issa’s current district includes Murrieta and Temecula, along with much of San Diego County.
The new districts would split up Norco and Canyon Lake — both solidly red cities — and replace them with bluer communities. Murrieta and part of Temecula — both GOP bastions — would be stripped from Issa’s district.
Calvert narrowly won reelection in 2022 and 2024 in a purple district. Giving him more Democratic voters would make it harder to extend a congressional career that started in the 1990s. Similarly, adding deep blue Palm Springs to what’s essentially Issa’s current district would pose a challenge for him.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, Aug. 14, launched California’s campaign to redraw congressional boundary lines, a partisan effort meant to favor Democrats in the state as a counter to similar, Republican-led plans elsewhere in the country in the battle for which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
California’s redistricting efforts would only apply to congressional boundary lines, and the changes, should voters approve them, would only be implemented if Republican-led states also move forward with partisan redistricting at the behest of President Donald Trump for the 2026 midterm elections, Newsom said.
These new congressional lines would be in place for elections in 2026, 2028, and 2030, and then the state would revert to having an independent commission decide congressional district boundaries.
The draft maps still need to be approved by the California Legislature, and with a Democratic majority in the statehouse, that’s expected to happen. Both the state Senate and Assembly elections committees have hearings scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 19.
Voters would then need to give final approval to the maps in a special election on Nov. 4.
California Republicans have largely decried efforts to redo California’s congressional maps mid-cycle. Redistricting is typically done every 10 years, consistent with new census data, and boundary lines are decided by an independent group.
Merz, though, said the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s proposal for California keeps communities together better than what has been proposed in Texas, where Republicans are hoping to shore up extra House seats in 2026.
“Our proposed map was created using traditional redistricting criteria, consistent with guidelines laid out by the California’s Citizen Redistricting Commission,” Merz said.
“It allows for more compact districts than in the current Commission-drawn map, keeps more communities and neighborhoods together, splits fewer cities and makes minimal disruptions to the Commission-drawn map so as to impact as few residents as possible.”
Here’s a look at the proposed maps for Riverside and San Bernardino counties:
23rd Congressional District: Big Bear City and Yucaipa would be part of a sprawling district stretching north of Barstow and out to Blythe. It’s similar to Hesperia Republican Jay Obernolte’s current district.
Thirty-eight percent of the district’s voters would be registered Republicans, compared to 32% for Democrats and 29% for no-party-preference and third-party voters.
25th Congressional District: San Jacinto and much of the Coachella Valley would become part of this district. Roughly 4 in 10 voters in this district are registered Democrats, 28% are Republicans and 28% are no party preference/third party.
28th Congressional District: Part of Rancho Cucamonga would be merged into a district stretching north to Wrightwood and east to include Pasadena, Altadena, Arcadia, San Gabriel, Rosemead and Monterey Park. The voter registration breakdown is 45% Democrat, 31% no party preference/third party and 23% Republican.
31st Congressional District: Chino, San Dimas, Montclair and La Verne would be part of a district stretching to Monrovia and West Covina. Forty-four% of its voters would be Democrats, compared to 25% for Republicans and 28% for no-party-preference and third-party voters.
33rd Congressional District: This district would encompass San Bernardino, Rialto, Highland, Colton, Redlands and part of Rancho Cucamonga. Its voter registration would be 44% Democratic, 30% no party preference/third party and 25% Republican.
35th Congressional District: Claremont, Upland, Ontario, Fontana, Chino Hills, Eastvale, Norco and part of Corona would be in this district. Its voter registration would be 43% Democratic, 29% no party preference/third party and 26% Republican.
39th Congressional District: Jurupa Valley, Riverside, Moreno Valley and Perris would be included in a district similar to the current 39th, which is represented by Riverside Democrat Mark Takano. It’s a blue district with 44% of voters being Democrats, 29% registered as no party preference/third party and 25% registered as Republicans.
40th Congressional District: Rancho Santa Margarita and Villa Park would be included in this district that would stretch east into the Inland Empire, picking up the Temescal Valley, Lake Elsinore, Menifee and Murrieta.
Registered Republicans would have the advantage, making up 40% of the proposed district, compared to 31% Democratic and 27% no party preference/other.
48th Congressional District: Hemet, Palm Springs and part of Temecula would join a district stretching into northern San Diego County. The district would be 37% Democratic, 33% Republican and 29% no party preference/third party.
