Texas federal judge dismisses Rep. Issa’s Prop. 50 lawsuit

Rep. Darrell Issa, who faces a direct threat from Proposition 50, filed a lawsuit – dismissed Friday by a Texas federal judge – challenging California’s efforts to redraw its congressional maps.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Prop. 50 is unconstitutional and “an unprecedented interstate assault on representative democracy.”

Fellow Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas joined the Escondido Republican in the Prop. 50 suit. The measure is before California voters in a special election that concludes when polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Absentee ballots have been accepted in San Diego County since Oct. 7.

The complaint claimed that Issa specifically will be harmed both as a Congressman and as a California voter.

Jackson, on the other hand, argued that he “will lose specific, concrete resources and authority necessary to serve his constituents because California’s scheme will succeed in flipping House control.”

Issa claimed in a declaration that if Democrats gain House control, he will lose “seniority advantages in committee proceedings” and have “reduced influence over legislative priorities and committee work affecting my constituents,” which he alleged will negatively affect veterans and immigrant communities within his district.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk wrote that neither congressman sufficiently showed that they faced harm if the new maps were implemented.

Kacsmaryk wrote that lawmakers may not sue in their representative capacity when the asserted harm amounts only to “a loss of political power, not loss of any private right.”

Regarding Issa’s status as a voter, Kacsmaryk said that “having one’s district politically gerrymandered does not constitute a justiciable injury.”

Kacsmaryk also ruled that even if the congressmen had standing to sue, it was not proper to file the lawsuit in Texas as the twomdefendants, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, are California residents.

Issa, the sole Republican member of the San Diego County congressional delegation, filed the suit despite telling Fox5/KUSI in August that he would not challenge new redistricting maps.

He did, however, raise objections to Newsom’s redistricting push – which was prompted by a successful effort in Texas – saying that “our Constitution says citizens pick districts, not politicians.”

The Prop. 50 complaint named Newsom and and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a former state legislator from San Diego, as defendants. Issa and Jackson wanted the judge stop the implementation of the new maps, should voters approve them, and require California to use its current map for the 2026 congressional elections.

The judicial district in question has a particular reputation that has drawn scrutiny in legal circles. “Federal judges within the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas have been targeted by conservative litigants hoping for favorable rulings,” wrote Bloomberg Law News in 2024.

California’s redistricting proposal was a direct response to similar efforts in Texas aimed at shifting five additional seats to Republicans. A ruling is expected sometime next month to a separate legal challenge from the Texas NAACP to block Texas’ new congressional map.

Updated 8:25 p.m. Oct. 31, 2025