Approval of measure could determine if Republicans keep full control of government in next year’s midterm elections

Voters in California on Tuesday approved a high-stakes redistricting measure, a national triumph for Democrats hoping to stop Donald Trump and Republicans from retaining full control of the federal government in next year’s midterm elections.

It was a decisive victory for Democrats in deep-blue California, who had raced to counter a gerrymander in Texas, engineered at the US president’s behest, to carve out new safe Republican districts. The Associated Press declared Proposition 50 had passed almost instantly when polls closed statewide.