California votes to redraw congressional map in triumph for Newsom

California voters have approved a ballot measure intended to shift as many as five congressional seats to Democrats from Republicans, handing Governor Gavin Newsom a major political victory in his fight against President Donald Trump.

The victory for Proposition 50 was called by the Associated Press within a minute of polls closing. Newsom championed the controversial ballot measure as a way to neutralise a Trump-backed initiative in Texas in which the state redrew congressional districts to flip as many as five seats to the Republican Party.

Redistricting battles have spread around the country and emerged as a crucial strategy ahead of next year’s midterm elections, as Democrats seek to wrest control of the US House of Representatives from the Republican Party and blunt Trump’s power.

Proposition 50 victory in the nation’s most populous state capped a series of other Democratic wins across the country on Tuesday night. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, easily won the Virginia governor’s race, while Mikie Sherrill, a US Navy veteran and ex-prosecutor, triumphed in New Jersey. In New York City, self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor.

The president – whose enmity towards California has been a recurring theme in his decade in national politics – was clearly annoyed by the ballot initiative.

“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED,” Trump wrote on his social media site on Tuesday.