California‘s new congressional maps could leave only four of the Golden State’s current nine House Republicans as winners in what’s become a high-stakes game of political musical chairs.

Voters in the deep blue state, the nation’s most populous with nearly 40 million people, on Nov. 4 approved Proposition 50, pushed by Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Democrats’ explicit aim is to gain five new House seats, part of a national effort to win the House majority in 2026. House Republicans currently hold a narrow edge, which will settle into 220 to 215 over Democrats when several open seats are filled by special elections in the next few months.