In California redistricting, pro-MAGA town likely to get a gay, liberal congressman
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/california-redistricting-pro-maga-town-likely-get-gay-liberal-congressman-2026-05-29/
In California redistricting, pro-MAGA town likely to get a gay, liberal congressman
[1/6]Robert
Garcia, a U.S. Democratic representative for California's 42nd
congressional district, poses in Manhattan Beach, California, U.S. May
27, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Brehman Purchase Licensing Rights
HUNTINGTON
BEACH, California, May 29 (Reuters) - Huntington Beach, the
right-leaning California city that banned the Pride flag from City Hall
and elected a city council of MAGA supporters, is heavily favored to get
a new Democratic congressman who is gay, progressive and an outspoken
critic of U.S. President Donald Trump.
It's
a result of redrawing congressional districts. A flurry of
redistricting was touched off when Trump pushed states, starting with
Texas, to come up with voting maps favorable to his Republican Party.
With control of the U.S. House of Representatives at stake in
November's elections, heavily Democratic California countered the Texas
redistricting, with voters approving a plan that targets five Republican
seats.
"So,
two wrongs make a right?" Huntington Beach City Councilman Pat Burns
said from his council office, where a bust of Trump that he once placed
on the dais at city council meetings now sits on his desk. "It's just
California ugly-ass politics, and they are all about their agenda and
not about the people. They don't care about the people of California one
bit."
Huntington
Beach counts itself among the cities and towns in roughly a dozen U.S.
states caught up in the redistricting battle, with political parties
reconfiguring voting maps to their advantage in what is known as
gerrymandering.
As
a result, voters can suddenly find themselves in a new district - with
representation that they say fails to reflect their interests.
A conservative enclave in mostly liberal Southern California, Huntington Beach has set itself on a collision course with liberals in the Trump era,
defying Democrats in the state capital on issues such as voter
identification and housing density. Officially nicknamed Surf City USA,
it reflects the individualist and independence-minded aspects of surf
culture, not the cliché of laid-back free spirits.
At
the moment, Huntington Beach, which banned the rainbow Pride flag and
other nongovernmental banners from city property after a local voter
referendum in 2024, is represented in the House by Representative Dave
Min, a Democrat seen as moderate and pragmatic.
Redistricting,
however, means that after the November elections the city will most
likely be represented by the more progressive Robert Garcia, a
48-year-old gay immigrant, who said in an interview he has "been dealing
with homophobia my whole life."
A
two-term Democratic U.S. representative, Garcia comes from Long Beach, a
city of 450,000 people across the Los Angeles County line from
Huntington Beach. Once in different districts, Long Beach and Huntington
Beach have been coupled together into one district through
gerrymandering and will share a representative in the House.
Born
in Peru, Garcia came to the U.S. as a child. A former mayor of Long
Beach, he was elected to Congress in 2022 and won his 2024 re-election
by 36 percentage points. He is heavily favored to finish first in the
primary election on June 2 that will test the new districts for the
first time, and to prevail in the November general election.
Garcia,
a Trump critic, is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight
Committee, the congressional watchdog over the executive branch. His
stands on issues including immigration, climate and healthcare clash
with the MAGA agenda.
"I've
represented people I don't agree with on everything, my entire time as
mayor, and currently as a member of Congress," Garcia said. "That's OK.
That's America."
'RULE BY FIAT'
Domnic
McGee, a Huntington Beach Planning Commission member and outspoken
conservative, sees redistricting as part of a broader effort by
Democrats to consolidate power in California and advance policies he
opposes. McGee said he plans to “fight for traditional American values”
and resist "overreach” by the left.
"The Democrats now with redistricting are set to take even more power in California," McGee said. "They want to rule by fiat."
Janet Jacobs, who attended a recent city council meeting, is also firmly in the "Make America Great Again" camp.
"Trump
is doing a hell of a job, and God is on his side," said Jacobs, who
wore a red baseball cap emblazoned with "Make Huntington Beach Great
Again" and "7-0" on the side, extolling the 7-0 MAGA majority on the
council.
Still, Garcia predicts cooperation rather than confrontation.
"I
expect actually there's going to be a lot of partnerships with the
cities, especially communities like Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
While they might have a more conservative council, at the end of the
day, they want the same thing that communities in Long Beach want,"
Garcia told Reuters.
Garcia
flagged one issue he said unites the district: offshore oil drilling.
"Whether you're in Huntington Beach or Newport Beach or Seal Beach,
that is a huge concern to everybody here," Garcia said. He said he would
be "much more engaged on that issue" given the Trump administration's
moves toward reopening California's coast to oil production.
Huntington
Beach Mayor Casey McKeon also said he expects any representative to do
the job professionally. He cited previous Representative Michelle Steel,
a Republican who worked with a then-liberal council on beach sand
replacement.
"She still did what was right for Huntington Beach," McKeon said. "She didn't let politics get in the way of that."
Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Huntington Beach; editing by Donna Bryson and Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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