Sacramento, CA — The man who drew California's Democratic-friendly congressional map is now calling for a nationwide ban on the very practice he used to help his party win.
Paul Mitchell, the architect of Proposition 50, wrote in a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed published Wednesday that lawmakers should "kill partisan gerrymandering for good." His plea comes less than a year after California voters approved Prop 50 in November 2025, temporarily replacing the state's independent redistricting commission with a map drawn to benefit Democrats through 2030.
Democrats flipped all five House seats in California targeted by the party's redistricting push in the November midterm elections, the Associated Press reported Nov. 4. Mitchell acknowledged in his op-ed that Prop 50 was designed to benefit Democrats, but defended it as a temporary response to Republican-led redistricting efforts in other states.
"What makes now really important is that Republicans, who have opposed redistricting reform, should now realize that they lost in this war, so getting out of future wars is something maybe they would take more seriously now," Mitchell told Fox News Digital.
Mitchell's call for national standards comes as he serves as vice president of Political Data Inc., a California-based bipartisan voter data firm, and owns Redistricting Partners, a Sacramento-based consulting firm. According to Fox News Digital, he has conducted more than 100 redistrictings for states, cities, school boards and community college districts, including the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission and the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission.
In his op-ed, Mitchell wrote that "the incoming Congress should make national redistricting a priority, establishing minimum standards for how all states draw their districts." He told Fox News Digital that the "best solution would be independent commissions in every state" and that the Prop 50 maps will likely remain in place through 2030, with the focus shifting to restoring a fairer process in 2031.
The timing of Mitchell's conversion is drawing scrutiny. The New York Times reported 19 hours ago that Republicans actually gained anywhere from four to seven seats nationally as a result of their own mid-decade redistricting efforts, despite Democrats winning overwhelmingly in several targeted races. The Times noted that North Carolina was the one state where the Republican effort "seems to have backfired, if only barely."
In other words, the Republican redistricting gamble did not backfire—but Mitchell's California map did exactly what it was designed to do, and now he wants to outlaw the practice for everyone else.
California's Prop 50 was sold to voters as a temporary measure to counter Republican map-drawing in states like Texas and Florida. But the result was a permanent shift in California's congressional delegation, with five GOP seats vanishing from the map. The state's independent redistricting commission, created by voters in 2008 to take politics out of mapmaking, was sidelined for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.
Mitchell's op-ed does not explain why Democrats should be trusted to set "minimum standards" for redistricting nationwide when they just used a partisan map to flip five seats. Nor does it address whether California would return to its independent commission before 2030 if Republicans agreed to national standards.
It is not yet known whether Democratic leaders in Congress support Mitchell's proposal, or whether any Republican lawmakers have signaled openness to national redistricting standards. The San Francisco Chronicle op-ed did not specify what those standards would be or who would enforce them.
For everyday Americans, the stakes are simple: the people who draw the maps choose their voters, and the party that controls the map controls the seat. Mitchell's proposal would hand that power to Washington—the same Washington that just watched California Democrats use a partisan map to wipe out five Republican districts.
The incoming Congress will take up redistricting standards only if leadership prioritizes it. Mitchell's op-ed is a signal that Democrats intend to push the issue—after they have already used the practice to their advantage. Republicans, who opposed redistricting reform before the midterms, now face a choice: accept national standards or watch Democrats use the issue to build a permanent advantage.
Our Take
Let's call this what it is: a hustle.
Paul Mitchell drew a map that helped Democrats flip five Republican-held seats in California. He admitted it was designed to benefit Democrats. He told Fox News Digital that Republicans "lost in this war." And now, less than a year later, he wants you to believe he's the guy who can save America from partisan gerrymandering.
Patriots, ask yourselves: why didn't Mitchell call for a national ban on partisan gerrymandering before he used it to wipe out five GOP seats? Why didn't he write this op-ed when California's independent redistricting commission was still in place? Why is he calling for "minimum standards" only after his own party got what it wanted?
The answer is obvious. This isn't about fairness. This is about locking in the wins Democrats just got, then changing the rules so Republicans can never do the same thing. Mitchell knows Republicans are likely to hold the House next year, and he knows Democrats can't survive another round of fair redistricting fights. So he's trying to nationalize the issue and hand the keys to Washington.
Don't fall for it. The Constitution gives states the power to draw their own districts for a reason. California voters created an independent commission in 2008—and then their Democratic leaders threw it in the trash when it didn't serve their political goals. Now the architect of that power grab wants to lecture the rest of the country about fairness.
Republicans in Congress should tell Mitchell and his allies exactly where they can put their "minimum standards." The last thing America needs is a bunch of Washington bureaucrats—or worse, California consultants—telling the rest of the country how to draw its maps.
The real solution is simple: let states draw their own maps, hold them accountable at the ballot box, and stop pretending that the people who just ran a partisan gerrymander are the same people who can fix it.
