The California Republican Party has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to block California from implementing the redrawn congressional maps approved by voters in November, a lawyer for the state party confirmed on Tuesday.

“Today, we filed an Emergency Application with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging California’s new congressional map enacted through Proposition 50,” Mark Meuser, a Dhillon Law Group attorney who represents the California Republican Party, wrote in a post on X.

Republicans have alleged that the redrawn maps, authorized by voters as Proposition 50 in November 2025, were affected by illegal racial gerrymandering that’s prohibited under the Voting Rights Act.

“The Constitution is clear: states may not sort voters into districts based on race. Yet the record in this case contains unusually direct evidence that race was used in drawing multiple districts,” Meuser wrote.

“The State made no showing that these race-based districts were required by the Voting Rights Act. In fact, the evidence shows that minority-preferred candidates routinely win in California and that no racial bloc voting exists that would justify sorting voters by race,” Meuser added, citing rules laid out by the Voting Rights Act and subsequent litigation.

In a 2–1 ruling delivered on Jan. 14, a three-judge panel in California rejected the argument, describing the referendum as a proportional and legal reaction to Republicans undertaking redistricting efforts in Texas.

“We find that Challengers have failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred, and we conclude that there is no basis for issuing a preliminary injunction,” the court wrote in its decision.

The judges specifically characterized California’s move as reactive to similar moves undertaken in Texas that were backed by President Donald Trump.

“In the summer of 2025, the Trump administration began pressuring Texas to redistrict for the purpose of picking up five more Republican seats in Congress. The Texas Legislature obliged,” the decision reads.

The ruling stated that California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to redistrict California’s congressional maps constituted a constrained and lawful response to Texas’s actions.

“The stated goal of [the legislation authorizing the referendum] was to counter the actions of Texas and pick up an additional five Democratic seats,” the court wrote.“The new map drawn by a private consultant, paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and incorporated into Proposition 50, met that goal exactly.”

That ruling overtly characterized California’s gerrymandering as political, but noted longstanding precedent that treats such issues as political questions. The court said that Republicans had not presented evidence that the intention behind the maps was political.

Republicans immediately vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

The petition filed Tuesday asks the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s ruling and block the implementation of the new maps in California. It also calls for California to use previous congressional boundaries drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission.

“Timing is critical. Candidate filing for the 2026 elections begins on February 9th. Once candidates and voters are forced to operate under unconstitutional districts, the harm cannot be undone. That is why we are seeking narrow, temporary relief now, to preserve the status quo while the appeal proceeds,” Meuser wrote.