A new Emerson College poll in California voters finds 51% plan to vote in favor of Proposition 50 in the November special election, which would authorize temporary changes to congressional district maps.

Thirty-four percent plan to vote no, and 15% are undecided.

Support for the measure is higher among those “very likely” to vote in the November special election, 55% of whom plan to vote yes and 35% no.

“Gov. Gavin Newsom has raised roughly $70 million in less than two months for the California ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional lines, with the family of the prominent Democratic financier George Soros recently kicking in $10 million,” the New York Times reports.

“The $10 million donation makes the Soros family the single largest funder in favor of the redistricting ballot measure. And it comes at a moment when President Trump has explicitly called for Mr. Soros and his son Alex to be investigated as part of an escalation of his efforts to clamp down on political opposition.”

“Former U.S. transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sees an opening for Hoosiers who oppose redistricting mid-decade, as President Donald Trump has asked of Indiana’s Republican leaders,” the Indianapolis Star reports.

“There’s a moment of hesitation right now. There’s clearly a critical mass of lawmakers that have yet to commit to the idea of redrawing the maps mid-decade, which is why Gov. Mike Braun hasn’t yet called a special session to do so.”

Said Buttigieg: “And that’s where we come in… It is time for all of us to encourage our Republican friends in this Statehouse to show some backbone before it’s too late. We can still do the right thing. And if they do, we should give them some credit for it. I mean, it’s a low bar. Refraining from cheating is a low bar. But you got to start somewhere.”

“Gov. Mike Braun gave the strongest indication yet that a special session to redraw Indiana’s congressional maps is likely inevitable,” the Indianapolis Star reports.

“He won’t call the special session without knowing that enough legislators would vote to approve redistricting, he reiterated to reporters Sept. 16. But his prediction is that things are heading in that direction, and if it does, the session could occur anytime from early November through the ‘earliest part’ of the 2026 regular session, he said.”

“The Utah Supreme Court has rejected an emergency request from the Utah legislature to stay the lower court ruling that asks lawmakers to draw new congressional maps by September 25,” KTVX reports.

“That means that unless another stay is granted, presumably by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Utah Legislature will need to draw new congressional maps by September 25.”

Cook Political Report: “A new congressional map designed to redraw Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver into a solidly Republican seat officially passed the Missouri General Assembly on Friday. But the state’s complex ballot referendum process means the GOP’s newfound 7-1 gerrymander is not yet a done deal.”

“Because of the sheer number of possible developments at play, including several ongoing legal challenges, we are waiting to shift our rating of the 5th District from Solid Democrat to Solid Republican. We will revisit the rating in December, at which point it will be more clear whether opponents of the new map have the ability to stall or halt its implementation entirely.”

New York Times: “Private meetings and longtime loyalties helped push what began as something of a Democratic bluff into a full-fledged counteroffensive against President Trump.”

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is pushing for South Carolina to enter the redistricting fray, the Charleston Post & Courier reports.

“A far-right faction of the S.C. Legislature says it will introduce legislation to redraw the lines to give the GOP near-guaranteed control of all of the state’s congressional seats.”

But Republican legislative leaders are wary of diving back into an issue “that landed them in a long-running federal lawsuit over alleged racial gerrymandering of the 2020 congressional maps.”

“Missouri Republicans handed President Donald Trump a political victory Friday, giving final legislative approval to a redistricting plan that could help Republicans win an additional U.S. House seat in next year’s elections,” the AP reports.

“Hakeem Jeffries is presenting himself as a hard-charging leader of his party, pushing a crash blue-state redistricting program to counter President Donald Trump’s moves to add Republican seats in Texas, Missouri and elsewhere,” Politico reports.

“But behind the scenes, the House minority leader is encountering the limits of his power — and the credibility of Democrats’ counterattack. Just this week, some Illinois lawmakers sent Jeffries a clear message they were not interested in pursuing a redraw that could dilute their districts with additional GOP votes. And in his home state of New York, state and party officials have all but rejected his suggestion they draw a new map, saying it’s not legally possible ahead of the midterms.”

“The Missouri House on Tuesday approved a gerrymandered congressional map that would dilute the voting power of Kansas City under pressure from President Donald Trump,” the Kansas City Star reports.

“The Missouri House is expected to approve a new congressional map Tuesday that would eliminate a Democratic-controlled US House seat, as Republicans around the country scramble to boost their chances of retaining control of Congress after next year’s midterm elections,” CNN reports.

Nate Cohn says if the Supreme Court slashes the Voting Rights Act further in a case they’ll hear next month, Republicans could gerrymander eight more safe seats in the South.

“Republicans wield almost no power in California. But as a moribund state party gathered here over the weekend, it confronted an even grimmer reality now suddenly settling in: If the state gerrymanders its congressional map, they’ll practically be an endangered species,” Politico reports.

Said GOP delegate Dale Quasny: “It’s a guillotine. We won’t be able to pick up the pieces and move forward. I mean, we were making a little headway, but this would be a catastrophe.”

“Nebraska and Kansas might be next in the gerrymandering line,” Axios reports.

“Three Republicans currently represent Nebraska in the House. But Democrats are favored to pick up one seat in 2026, with the retirement of Rep. Don Bacon from the Omaha-based district. Republicans want to thwart those plans.”

“In neighboring Kansas, a Trump +16 state that has a Democratic governor, there are early conversations about how to gerrymander away the one Democratic House seat.”

“Democrats are inching toward a mid-decade redistricting in Maryland, one of the few blue states with the ability to counter Republicans’ gerrymandering spree,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Maryland’s eight-member congressional delegation is almost entirely Democratic, save for GOP Rep. Andy Harris on the state’s Eastern Shore. The Democratic members plan to meet in the next few weeks to discuss a push for a new map. Several of them have already signaled support for a plan that would target Harris’ seat.”

“Over the next two months, Democratic and Republican donors are expected to funnel as much as $200 million into a California ballot fight that could heavily shape which party wins control of the U.S. House next year,” the New York Times reports.

“It is an enormous amount of cash to raise in such a brief amount of time, but one that befits the stakes of the race.”

The Downballot: “Yes, Republicans may well fall short of their goal of flipping the five Democratic seats they’ve set their sights on, for a whole host of reasons.”

“In a couple of cases, they pulled their punches, making relatively modest adjustments to districts where moderate Democrats have long managed to outperform the national party. There are also signs that Latino voters, who moved sharply in the GOP’s direction last year, are now shifting back…”

“But they haven’t done anything to jeopardize the seats they already hold. Their new map isn’t a dummymander. It’s just a classic gerrymander, taken to the extreme.”