California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation to put redrawn maps favoring Democrats on the ballot later this year.
The move is in response to Texas Republicans passing redrawn maps on Wednesday, which are expected to create five new GOP seats ahead of the 2026 midterms.
A key difference between the Texas and California plans is that the latter will need to be approved by voters on November 4, while the former is expected to pass the Senate quickly.
Highlights
- Governor Gavin Newsom signed California legislation to put Democrat-favored redistricting maps on the November 2025 ballot.
- California's Proposal 50 would shift map-drawing power to voters for 2026, 2028, and 2030 House elections.
- The move counters Texas GOP maps creating five new Republican seats and requires voter approval, unlike Texas's quick Senate passage.
- Republicans oppose Newsom’s plan, calling it a return to partisan gerrymandering and a step backwards from the independent commission.
- Newsom stated the legislation levels the playing field after Texas’s actions, predicting Republicans will become the House minority next year.
Gavin Newsom has signed legislation that will take redrawn maps to the ballot
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If voters approve Newsom’s plan, any seats gained in Texas would effectively be canceled out.
“They fired the first shot, Texas. We wouldn’t be here had Texas not done what they just did, if Donald Trump didn’t do what he just did,” Newsom, who is rumored to be a 2028 presidential candidate, told reporters on Thursday.
The California legislation, called Proposal 50, would allow the redrawn districts to be in place for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 House elections.
After those elections, the power would then revert to the independent redistricting commission.
The commission has the authority to redraw maps in the state and, like most others, it typically does so once the updated U.S. census is released every 10 years.
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It was passed by voters in 2008 to draw nonpartisan district lines that would create a fair and equal representation for all Californians.
The commission is made up of five Republicans, five Democrats, and four independents.
While California Republicans have tried to stop the legislation from going ahead, they do not have the power to block the bill, with just nine representatives compared to 43 Democrats.
Ahead of a vote on the plans, California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher told a press conference that Newsom had said Democrats were “fighting fire with fire.”
“Well, the problem when you fight fire with fire is you burn it all down,” Gallagher said. “That’s what we got going on right now.”
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Republican Assemblyman Josh Hoover said in a statement that he opposed partisan gerrymandering, regardless of the political party.
He described Newsom’s legislation as a step backwards that would “tarnish” California’s legacy.
“For over 200 years, elected leaders used partisan gerrymandering to choose their preferred voters, protect their own political interests, and avoid accountability. That’s why politicians, regardless of state or party, cannot be trusted to draw their own maps,” Hoover said.
“Then in 2008, Californians chose a better path forward. A system where politicians no longer choose their voters, but one where the voters get to choose their politicians.”
Redrawn maps were passed in Texas after fleeing House Democrats returned to the state
“The independent Citizens Redistricting Commission became a model for the nation, and remains a model that should be adopted nationwide to end partisan gerrymandering once and for all.”
Republicans have defended the Texas gerrymandering plans, insisting that Trump was acting in response to Democratic gerrymandering after the last census in Massachusetts and Illinois.
They have launched legal challenges and called for a federal investigation into California’s plans.
The Texas plans were delayed after 51 Democrat representatives fled the state to stop the House from reaching the quorum required for a vote.
Image credits: Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images
But those Democrats returned this week and were placed under surveillance ahead of Wednesday’s vote. The legislation will need approval from the Republican-controlled Senate before it passes.
Trump has also pushed for other states—such as Florida, Indiana and Ohio—to move forward with redistricting proposals.
Democratic-leaning states, including New York and Illinois, have signaled they may consider redrawing their own maps in response.
One of the provisions of the California legislation was that it could only move ahead if Texas or another state enacted partisan redistricting first.
“We’re responding to what occurred in Texas, we’re neutralizing what occurred, and we’re giving the American people a fair chance because when all things are equal, and we’re all playing by the same set of rules, there’s no question that the Republican Party will be the minority party in the House of Representatives next year,” Newsom told reporters.
“We got here because the president of the United States is struggling. We got here because the president of the United States is one of the most unpopular presidents in U.S. history.
“We got here because he recognizes that he will lose the election.”