The US Justice Department have entered the fray in a lawsuit initiated by California Republicans, seeking to halt the California's recently passed electoral boundaries.
This court case, submitted to a US district court, challenges the map championed by the state's Democratic governor, which was developed in response to a Republican-led gerrymander in Texas.
"The state's redistricting scheme represents a brazen power grab that violates voting rights and mocks the electoral system," declared the US attorney general.
Democrats have expressed confidence that the redistricting plan will withstand legal scrutiny.
"The plaintiffs lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court," stated a representative for the governor.
Constitutional Challenge
The legal challenge claims that California's map wrongfully utilized racial considerations to significantly advantage Hispanic voters in contravention of the federal constitution.
"It is unconstitutional to use race as a substitute to advance political interests, but that is exactly what the state legislature did with the redistricting measure," argued a senior official from the Civil Rights Division.
Broader Implications
The legal battle represents the major counterpunch by Democrats in the ongoing political battle that began in Texas and has extended to multiple states.
Unlike other states, where Republican state legislatures have enacted gerrymanders, California's plan needed voter approval, which it received with approximately two-thirds of the vote.
National Implications
Democrats need to gain just a small number of Republican-held House seats to take control of the chamber in next year's congressional elections.
The party that holds the controlling share will shape the final years of the sitting president's term, determining whether a unified Republican Congress will continue to deliver its agenda or face resistance, investigations and possible further challenges.
- Legal counsel for the challengers is being handled by a prominent law firm
- The managing partner currently holds the position of assistant attorney general
- However, this attorney has been removed from this particular case
