The redistricting war just escalated.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a series of bills calling for new congressional maps that could add up to five Democratic seats in Congress, a response to an ongoing, Trump-led effort in Texas to use redistricting there to carve out five additional GOP seats.
“We’re neutralizing what occurred and we’re giving the American people a fair chance,” Newsom said on Thursday of the effort. “Because when all things are equal and we’re all playing by the same set of rules, there’s no question the Republican party will be the minority party in the House of Representatives.”
The bills, which Newsom said are unique in U.S. history, ask voters to approve the congressional maps in a special election in November through a constitutional amendment that would bypass the state’s independent redistricting process.
The effort passed along party lines, with a sole Democrat voting against the proposals.
Republicans criticized the redistricting scheme as undemocratic, arguing it violates the will of Californians who created the independent redistricting process.
“You move forward fighting fire with fire, what happens? You burn it all down,” Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher said on Thursday. “And in this case, it affects our most fundamental American principle: representation.”
The bill’s passage comes a day after the Texas House approved a redistricting plan for the state that could add up to five GOP seats in the U.S. Congress. President Trump had called on the state to do so.
In July, Trump said he was pushing the Texas GOP to pursue a rare mid-decade redistricting and redrawing of congressional maps in the state to pick up more Republican seats, with the president later claiming the GOP was “entitled” to more seats after his successful 2024 campaign there.
“Texas will be the biggest one,” Trump said at the time. “And that’ll be five.”
Texas Democrats temporarily fled the state to delay voting on the measure.
The redistricting face-off appears set to move beyond Texas and California though.
Republican-led states, including Ohio, Missouri, and Florida, have been floated as possible next venues to pursue redistricting, and Democratic states like Illinois could alter their districts too before the 2026 midterms.
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