California (BN24) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday called on state lawmakers to approve a November ballot measure that would allow Democrats to redraw California’s congressional map — a direct counter to Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting effort backed by President Donald Trump.
Newsom’s proposal, called the Election Rigging Response Act, would temporarily bypass California’s independent redistricting commission and let the Legislature enact new congressional lines favoring Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The move mirrors aggressive GOP efforts in Texas, where Republicans are seeking to add as many as five U.S. House seats.
“It’s not complicated,” Newsom said during an event in Los Angeles alongside other Democratic leaders. “We’re doing this in reaction to a president of the United States that called a sitting governor of Texas and said, ‘Find me five seats.’ We cannot unilaterally disarm.”
Democrats currently hold 43 of California’s 52 House districts, while Republicans control 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional seats. If the GOP’s proposed Texas map is enacted, 30 of those seats would have voted for Trump in last year’s presidential election.
The California initiative, which must pass both the Legislature and a statewide vote, is the latest escalation in a growing national battle over congressional boundaries. Republican-led states can typically redraw maps with only legislative and gubernatorial approval, while in California and other Democratic states the process is more complex.
Newsom said lawmakers would begin advancing the ballot measure Monday, with final legislative approval expected by the end of next week. Draft maps could be unveiled within days, which he claimed would “neutralize” Texas Republicans’ plans.
The push comes after Texas Democrats fled their state last month to block the GOP redistricting vote, urging Democratic governors nationwide to respond in kind. Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said Thursday that California introducing new maps was a key condition for his members to return home.
Republicans dismissed the move as partisan gamesmanship. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin also rejected criticism over the presence of Border Patrol agents near Newsom’s Los Angeles event, saying federal agents were “enforcing the law — not Gavin Newsom.”
In recent weeks, Newsom has taken his feud with Trump to social media, adopting the former president’s combative, all-caps style to draw attention to the fight over congressional control.
The ballot measure, if approved in November, would mark the first time in decades that California’s Legislature directly redrew congressional districts outside the regular 10-year cycle — underscoring the stakes in a political war that could shape the balance of power in Washington for years.
