Paul Mitchell, the strategist behind California’s Democratic-friendly congressional map, is now urging Democrats to work toward ending partisan gerrymandering across the country. The map helped Democrats flip five Republican-held House seats in November’s midterm elections.
In an opinion piece published Wednesday, Mitchell argued that lawmakers should put an end to partisan redistricting. California voters approved Proposition 50 in November 2025, temporarily replacing the state’s independent congressional map with one designed to favor Democrats. The new districts are set to be used through 2030.
Mitchell acknowledged that Proposition 50 was intended to help Democrats, but described it as a temporary response to Republican-led redistricting efforts. He said he had planned to call for broader reform once the election was over, and had made a similar argument during election coverage: the country should stop the redistricting fight and address the underlying problem.
He called Proposition 50 the right response to Texas Republicans’ redistricting push, while noting that California first tried to persuade Texas not to start what he called a redistricting war. Mitchell said Democrats would have supported a federal ban on mid-decade map changes and backed legislation from Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren that would have established national redistricting standards.
Mitchell suggested Republicans might now be more open to reform after losing seats in the midterms. He said that after years of opposing changes, they may see less appeal in continuing the fight.
In California, he expects the Proposition 50 map to stay in place through 2030. The priority, he said, should be creating a fairer process for the next round of maps in 2031.
Congress should bar states from redrawing districts between censuses, Mitchell argued, though he said that alone would not stop partisan gerrymandering when maps are updated every ten years. His preferred approach is to establish independent redistricting commissions in every state.
The California Democratic Party described Proposition 50 as a response to what it called a Republican power grab, pointing to President Donald Trump and Texas leaders’ efforts to redraw districts in hopes of gaining five House seats. Gov. Gavin Newsom also said the measure was about standing up to Trump.
Mitchell’s opinion piece argued that gerrymandering can weaken voters’ ability to elect the candidates they prefer. Democrats won all five California House races targeted by the redistricting effort in November.
He urged the incoming Congress to make national redistricting a priority and set minimum standards for how states draw their districts.
Mitchell is vice president of Political Data Inc., a California-based bipartisan voter data firm, and owns Redistricting Partners, a Sacramento data consultancy. Over his career, he has worked on more than 100 redistricting projects for states, cities, school boards and community college districts, including commissions in New York, Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Asked in a November 8 interview whether California’s new maps were necessary, Mitchell said Democrats would have made a major mistake by resting on their previous successes.
After Democrats’ strong midterm performance, some states have discussed redrawing congressional maps before the 2028 elections. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who is leaving office in January 2027, said November 4 that he would not call a special legislative session to redraw the state’s districts or restrict the incoming governor’s authority. He said his administration would respect election results and follow Georgia’s laws and constitution.
