Democrats' plan to redraw California's congressional districts leaked on Thursday, and showed that the party plans to rejigger the Golden State’s U.S. House lines to eliminate as many as five Republican seats in the state, Politico reported.
The leaked chart came the same day Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the legislature plans to hold a special election to pass a ballot measure that would suspend the state's independent redistricting commission and allow the legislature to redraw the state's House seats. Newsom said the suspension of the independent commission is critical in order to combat President Donald Trump and the GOP's naked attempt to rig the 2026 midterms with mid-decade redistricting in Texas.
"If California, one of the most un-Trumped states in America, is not successful, it’s at our peril. We may not get this back. I’m telling you, we may not," Newsom said in an interview with Meidas Touch. "He is rigging this next midterm election before one vote is cast. He tried to wreck our democracy after the last vote was cast last time. Now he’s doing it in plain sight, and we have to have our sights focused—laser-focused—on winning, fighting fire with fire. No longer on our back heels—on our toes. We drive the narrative. We drive the reforms. We drive the talking points. Surround sound. Not just California—all of us. We the people, states large and small, all across this country."
Indeed, Trump appears to be so worried about California’s effort that he sought to intimidate Democrats by sending Customs and Border Patrol agents to patrol outside of the museum where Newsom announced the redistricting effort.
Ultimately, if Newsom’s ballot measure is successful, the map Democrats plan to draw will eliminate four Republican members from the state: Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley, Ken Calvert, and Darrell Issa, according to the document obtained by Politico. A fifth Republican—Rep. David Valadao—already holds a seat Democrats carried in 2024, and in a wave could see voters toss him out of office as well.
That means Democrats would net five seats from the state. That would erase Texas' planned redraw, which GOP Gov. Greg Abbott says will net Republicans five seats as well.
Facing an existential crisis, California Republicans are crying foul.
“Governor Newsom is trying to grab power away from the citizens on the commission and give it to Sacramento politicians to gerrymander their own districts,” California's nine GOP House members wrote in a joint statement. “Our delegation will stand with the citizens of California and defend their rights as they stand today in our state constitution by opposing Newsom’s ballot measure. All Californians, regardless of their political affiliation, should vote NO on this attempt to eliminate the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission’s ability to draw fair congressional districts.”
Kiley is also seeking to pass a bill that would outlaw mid-decade redistricting like the Texas Republicans are working to pass.
"What is taking shape is an arms race with no end in sight—one that is bad for representative government and a distraction from important issues facing the country," Kiley wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
However, this all started with Kiley’s own party—which is cheering Trump’s plan on. In fact, GOP lawmakers are demanding that Texas Democratic lawmakers—who left the state to deny Republicans a quorum to block the power grab—be arrested by FBI agents and forced back to Texas.
Newsom's effort to combat Texas shows that Democrats are finally done with the days of bringing a knife to a gunfight.
Now, we just have to hope that California voters do the right thing and allow this mid-decade redraw.
