Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has called a special election for California’s vacant 1st Congressional District to coincide with the state’s regularly scheduled primary on June 2, with a second round of voting on Aug. 4 if needed—the latest dates allowed under the law.
The election, which became necessary after Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa unexpectedly died earlier this month, will take place under the old district lines, which heavily favored the GOP, rather than using the new, Democratic-leaning boundaries.
However, even in the likely event that Republicans prevail, Newsom’s timetable will keep LaMalfa’s seat empty for as long as possible, depriving the GOP of a key vote in the narrowly divided House.
Ordinarily, a special election must take place within 154 days of a vacancy arising, as we explained after LaMalfa’s death. Newsom, however, took advantage of a legal provision that allows a wait of up to 214 days if it’s possible to consolidate a special with an already-scheduled regular election. Candidates will likely have to file by early March, though activity is already underway.
See here for the background and here for a copy of the proclamation. Republicans are not happy about this delay. All I can say as a current resident of CD18 is that they are cordially invited to bite me. Direct all your whining to Greg Abbott, I’m sure he’ll provide a shoulder to cry on. It should be noted that if a Republican in this special election gets to 50% of the vote on June 2, then the August election will not be needed. So cheer up, y’all, you might only have to wait five months instead of eight. Or, you know, twelve.
Also from that same Downballot post:
Virginia’s Democratic-run state Senate approved a constitutional amendment in a party-line vote on Friday that would allow lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map, following the same action by the state House two days earlier.
Because Democrats passed the same amendment just before the state’s elections last November, the measure can now head to voters in time to impact races this fall. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has yet to call an election for the amendment, but it will likely take place in April.
Virginia’s congressional delegation is currently split, with Democrats holding six seats and Republicans five. Many Democratic leaders—most vocally state Sen. Louise Lucas—have pushed for a maximalist map that would likely elect 10 Democrats and just one Republican.
Following the landslide passage of a similar measure in California last year, Virginia Democrats widely expect success, and many are already preparing for new districts.
This has gotten a lot less attention than the California redistricting, at least so far. Between those two states, that could be nine more Democrats in Congress, and again I remind you that it’s far from guaranteed that Texas will get the five seats it’s aiming for. If the end result of the Trump-inspired mid-decade redistricting is not just a net increase in Democratic seats but potentially a significant one, that would be a truly spectacular own goal. If you’re a Republican and don’t like the sound of that, maybe you too should express your feelings to Greg Abbott. Not voting for him in November would be a nice, clear message.
(Yes, I know, Florida is getting set to do its own redistricting, and that will likely tip thing back towards the Republicans, though perhaps not enough. And one of the big goals that I and a lot of other Democrats want out of this is the passage of those two voting rights bills that passed the House under President Biden but got strangled by the filibuster in the Senate. That legislation included mandates for non-partisan redistricting commissions, which might end up forcing some of the newly-elected Dems out of their seats. I for one will thank them for their service and wish them all the best with whatever comes next.)