California's newly imposed mid-decade redistricting has carved up the foothills-and-Sierra district into a political jigsaw puzzle, says Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., leaving him weighing a tough choice about where to run next.
The reshuffle follows Proposition 50, the ballot measure approved in November that temporarily replaced the independent redistricting commission's maps with legislature-drawn lines for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 cycles.
Describing the new boundaries, Kiley said his current district is almost unrecognizable.
"Well, mine actually looks like an elephant now they've made it. So, there's this trunk that kind of, like, acts like a snake that comes up from the rest of the district," he told Newsmax's "Saturday Agenda."
But the bigger problem, Kiley argued, is fragmentation.
"When you say what has happened to my district, it's actually become six different districts. If you can believe that.
"The district I represent now has been fragmented, six different ways, different pieces forming parts of different districts. So that's why I have this sort of impossible dilemma to decide which of the six pieces of my current district do I go with?"
Prop. 50 was pitched by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Democrats as a counterpunch to GOP redistricting efforts in states such as Texas, but Republicans say it amounts to a partisan gerrymander timed to influence the 2026 midterms.
The measure has already sparked multiple lawsuits, including a federal challenge backed by the California GOP and the U.S. Justice Department.
Kiley has been one of the loudest critics of mid-decade map changes, even introducing federal legislation to bar states from redrawing congressional districts before the 2030 census.
Kiley also framed the redistricting as part of a broader political campaign against him.
"By the way, this is not the first time Gavin Newsom has targeted me," he said, pointing to a 2024 race in which he says the governor's allies backed a challenger.
"Last year, he sent his own staff member to run against me, and I won by 45,000 votes, even though they made it one of the top targeted races in the country."
Despite the new map, Kiley projected confidence.
"That's why I'm confident that despite Newsom's attempt to target me again with this gerrymander … I think that we will be able to beat him again and hold this seat. Well, I hope so."
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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