CA’s Gerrymandered Map Backfires as GOP To Keep 40th Congressional District
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom helped pass a gerrymandered map in the state that would allow for Democrats to “pick up” 5 U.S. House seats.
However, this has already backfired on the Democrats after another election was finally called in California.
Two Republican candidates in California’s 40th Congressional District have advanced to the general election, delivering a blow to Democrats.
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) have been vying for the same seat even after redistricting, with Decision Desk HQ reporting Calvert at 35.68 percent and Kim at 21.12 percent on Sunday.
The two Republicans are running after mid-decade redistricting, further gerrymandering California’s district lines, which already gives Congressional Democrats a gross advantage far beyond the party’s share of the state’s vote.
In a social media post on Sunday, Eric Daugherty of Florida’s Voice News said Democrats had been “locked out” of California’s 40th Congressional District “Meaning zero resources must now be spent on defending the seat this November.”
“House control could run through California. Federal ‘election month’ should be BANNED by SCOTUS by the midterms so they can’t cheat!” Daugherty added.
Texas Republican Rep. Brandon Gill had endorsed Calvert, who explained that “It comes down to two things. One is that Ken Calvert is a huge defender and supporter of the president. And number two, he’s got a fantastic record on immigration, which I think is the most important issue that we have in front of us today.”
Gill also noted Kim cosponsored a resolution to censure President Donald Trump in 2021, and was an “original cosponsor of the Dignidad Act, a mass amnesty bill — notably with a non-English title — pushed by pro-migration Republicans.”
The scene in California has ignited questions across social media.
It has raised questions about the pace of ballot processing as election officials work through hundreds of thousands of outstanding votes more than a week after Election Day.
According to figures released by county officials Wednesday night, only 77,521 additional ballots had been processed since the June 2 election.
Yet officials estimated that approximately 713,180 ballots remained outstanding and still needed to be counted, the California Post reported following its investigation of the facility.
However, during The Post’s visit, large portions of the facility’s work stations were empty, while boxes of ballots could be seen everywhere.
“In one area, where ballots that cannot be automatically read by scanners are reviewed by election workers, roughly 25 bins of ballots appeared ready for processing while no employees were seated at nearby desks,” the outlet reported.
“In another section where workers open envelopes and prepare ballots for counting, The Post observed about 75 employees working, despite the area being capable of accommodating more than twice that number,” it said.
As vote counting continues at a slow pace across Los Angeles County and much of California, reporters visiting the county’s 144,000-square-foot ballot processing center on Thursday found numerous workstations sitting empty despite a massive backlog of ballots still awaiting review.
Last week, Trump accused “Dumocrats” of stealing statewide elections in California.
“The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” he wrote in a Truth social post.
There’s been no confirmed cheating.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
