(NEW YORK) — The California Supreme Court on Wednesday night denied a petition from Republican state legislators requesting that the court mandate lawmakers wait 30 days before taking any action on legislation that could put new congressional maps in front of voters in November.
“The petition for writ of mandate and application for stay are denied. Petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8,” the court wrote.
The plaintiffs, in a response first to ABC station KGO, said they would keep up the fight against the proposed legislation.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is not the end of this fight,” State Sens. Tony Strickland and Suzette Martinez Valladares, Assemblyman Tri Ta and Assemblywoman Kathryn Sanchez wrote.
“Although the Court denied our petition, it did not explain the reason for its ruling. This means Governor Newsom and the Democrats’ plan to gut the voter-created Citizens Redistricting Commission, silence public input, and stick taxpayers with a $200+ million bill will proceed. … We will continue to challenge this unconstitutional power grab in the courts and at the ballot box. Californians deserve fair, transparent elections, not secret backroom deals to protect politicians.”
Meanwhile, the California legislature came one step closer on Wednesday to advancing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting legislative package, which calls for a November special election where voters will be asked to weigh in on proposed new Congressional maps.
Republicans clashed with Democrats again on Wednesday over questions around the price tag of the election, and the legislation is moving forward ahead of floor votes on Thursday without an official estimate on how much taxpayers will pay.
“No one has time to figure this out, where the money is going to come from,” Republican Assemblymember Dianne Dixon said at an appropriations committee hearing on Wednesday.
Millie Yan, an official with the California Department of Finance, told lawmakers, “This is a very developing issue that we will continue to look at as developments occur.” She said the secretary of state’s office will allocate money to counties.
Republicans continued to spar with Democrats over the pricetag in the committee meetings held on Wednesday.
Republican Assemblymember David Tangipa told the committee, “I haven’t gotten a single answer on how the money’s going to get there, how much money is actually needed, and where are the cost estimates? All I’m asking for is, can we do this, and do we have funds with a projected deficit next year?”
Democrats, however, doubled down. “If we’re talking about the cost of a special election versus the cost of our democracy, or the cost that Californians are already paying to subsidize this corrupt administration, those costs seem well worth paying in this moment,” Assemblymember Isaac Bryan said.
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who chairs the assembly appropriations committee, told KGO-TV’s Monica Madden that estimates for the election are $230 million, even as the Department of Finance says it’s still working on the numbers.
The legislation does not specifically include any estimate of total cost.
Republican legislators in California announced Wednesday that they are sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and to the U.S. Attorneys representing California, calling for a potential federal investigation into who is behind the proposed new congressional maps in California and how they were constructed.
The letter, obtained by ABC station KGO-TV, alleges, based on local media reports, that some Democratic legislators drew maps to benefit themselves and may have conditioned their votes for the maps on getting districts drawn that could benefit them.
ABC News has not independently confirmed these reports.
In a press conference Wednesday morning in Sacramento, Assemblymember Carl Demaio framed Democratic efforts to redraw lines in California as corrupt.
“This corruption must end, and if it is not a decision of the politicians to back down, then perhaps we will need a federal investigation to force them to finally comply with their oath of office and with ethical conduct in compliance with federal laws,” Demaio said.
In response to being called corrupt, Democratic Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire said in a statement to ABC News, “The hypocrisy of California Republican leaders is astounding. They are bowing to Donald Trump’s fight to rig the 2026 elections. California Republican leadership should focus their efforts on stopping Trump and Texas who started all of this, they are the real culprits here. In California’s plan, voters have the final say. This is about fairness.”
On Thursday morning, both the Assembly and Senate will gavel in to debate and vote on all three pieces of legislation, known as the “Election Rigging Response Act.”
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