The national fight over congressional redistricting entered its second round Thursday, as the California Legislature plans to pave the way to approve a new congressional map that will help the Democratic Party pick up five more House seats in 2026 and counter Republican efforts to retain the majority.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed the California Voter Fraud Response Act on Thursday, which authorizes special elections to be held on Nov. 4 for voters to approve new maps that favor Democrats, along with other related legislation.
California counters Texas
California will be the first state to allow the people to democratically choose their maps – and Trump’s failed policies are what got us here. pic.twitter.com/UWk01IijGf
– Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 22, 2025
The measures are in direct response to an initiative led by U.S. President Donald Trump in the state of Texas, where Republicans are bent on securing at least five additional seats by redistricting, which would make it easier for that party to retain the lower house in midterm votes.
Thursday’s marathon vote in the ‘Golden State’ comes a day after the Texas House of Representatives approved a new map to take at least five seats away from Democrats in districts with Latino and African-American communities.
The blue party’s best chance to counter Republican redistricting in Texas is in California, a predominantly Democratic state that has the largest number of congressional districts in the country, with 52.
“We answer to those who fired the first shot. We would not be here if Texas had not done what it just did,” Newsom sentenced at the signing of the bills.
“The people of California, in a transparent manner will have the opportunity to determine its fate,” the Democrat added.
Newsom vs. Trump
California’s governor has led the response against the Republican governor’s plan, which gave him the opportunity to stop redistricting, which is usually done every ten years, based on census figures.
Newsom, who is running as a serious Democratic chip to win back the White House in the 2028 election, warned in a message on his X account that Trump “openly admitted” the only way to win is to suppress the vote, as he celebrated the Texas House of Representatives’ approval of the new maps.
Texas State Representative Todd Hunter, author of the new map plan, publicly acknowledged that the fundamental goal of this plan is to “improve political performance” for Republicans.
Miguel Tinker Salas, retired professor of history at Pomona College, believes that in this message he has touched on the key point of the national battle for redistribution.
“It is a contradiction for President Trump and the Republicans to want to manipulate the elections when they are supposedly doing things ‘very well’ and their government has delivered results,” the professor told EFE.
Salas believes that the Republican plan responds to a real fear in the party of failing in both midterm elections and in 2028, even in Republican districts.
“No matter how many distractions the government imposes, the voter goes to the supermarket every day and notices how prices have gone up, that’s what really matters,” the professor points out.
No winning insurance
The standoff is far from over and for either side to secure victory, Newsom is not yet assured of approval for the new maps.
And that is, the Democratic governor needs to turn to the voters because since 2010 responsibility for congressional maps has been under the jurisdiction of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC), an independent entity that uses new census data to redraw the boundaries of congressional districts, the state Senate, the state Assembly and the State Board of Equalization.
The goal of the Governor and the Legislature is to ask voters to approve the new districts for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections; and then return to the model that has been called an example for being non-partisan.
Added to this is the criticism over how much the special elections will cost, just when the state has made cuts in its budget.
In contrast, Republicans in Texas have a free hand for their new map. This Thursday the bill was advancing in the state Senate for quick approval so it can move to the desk of the governor, Greg Abbott, who has promised to sign it as soon as possible.
However, Democrats in that state have vowed to take the Newsom vs. Trump battle to the judicial courts.
On that track, Newsom has already won a battle with Republicans in his state, when the California Supreme Court said the day before that it will not prevent Democrats from moving forward with a plan to redraw congressional congressional districts, following a lawsuit by the Republican minority.
The Californian governor has also raised more than $6 million in 200,000 donations in one week to draw the new electoral maps.
Cuidado Donald Trump, tu plan de fraude electoral está a punto de desmoronarse
Gavin Newsom en X
