SACRAMENTO
Paul Mitchell, the architect behind California's Democratic-friendly redistricting plan, is now urging lawmakers to end partisan gerrymandering nationwide—a striking reversal that underscores the political calculus behind map-making wars.
Mitchell's call comes after his mapping efforts helped Democrats flip five Republican-held House seats in November's midterm elections. In a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed published Wednesday, he stated lawmakers should "kill partisan gerrymandering for good."
His comments followed California voters' approval of Proposition 50 in November 2025, which replaced the state's independently drawn congressional districts with a map favoring Democrats through 2030. The impact on California Republicans was severe: the GOP House delegation is set to drop to four or fewer seats out of 52 total—less than 10 percent of the state's representation, despite Republicans comprising 40 to 45 percent of California's voters.
Outgoing Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. characterized the outcome as "pure gerrymandering."
In his op-ed, Mitchell acknowledged that Proposition 50 was designed to benefit Democrats. He defended the temporary measure as a necessary response to prior Republican-led redistricting efforts in other states, citing Texas as an example. He told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Proposition 50 was the "right response to what Republicans in Texas were doing."
Mitchell said he had always planned to publish his views after the election and referenced a CNN interview during election coverage, where he previously called for an end to the "redistricting war" to "actually fix the problem."
He expressed support for legislation proposed by Rep. Zoe Lofgren that would establish national redistricting standards. He also said he would have backed a congressional ban on mid-decade redistricting had such a measure existed when Texas began its redistricting process.
Mitchell suggested that Republican losses in the midterms could make them more receptive to reform, a position they have historically opposed. He told Fox News Digital that Republicans "lost in this war" and might now take the prospect of "getting out of future wars" more seriously.
For California, Mitchell expects the Proposition 50 maps to remain through 2030, with a focus on reestablishing a fairer process for the 2031 cycle.
He called on Congress to prohibit mid-decade redistricting but acknowledged that such a ban alone would not prevent partisan gerrymandering during regular map-drawing cycles following a census.
