Kenneth Lee

Kenneth Lee is a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit who wrote a dissent in the Tangipa v. Newsom panel decision, arguing that California's Proposition 50 congressional maps constitute racial gerrymandering. The 9th Circuit upheld the Prop 50 maps 2-1 in January 2026, with Lee dissenting. The case is now heading to the Supreme Court as part of the Democratic redistricting story: California's maps are one of the few potential Democratic gain vehicles that remains in legal play, though it is on the adversarial side — opponents are seeking to strike the maps, not preserve them.

Lee was nominated by President Trump and confirmed in 2019. He is known as a textualist and has written notable opinions on immigration and administrative law. His Tangipa dissent positions the racial gerrymandering argument as a potential vehicle for the Supreme Court's current conservative majority to extend the post-Callais redistricting jurisprudence.

If SCOTUS takes Tangipa and rules for Lee's position, it would strike down California's Democratic-leaning Prop 50 maps — removing one of the few potential Democratic seat gains from the board and potentially adding to the Republican advantage for November 2026.