When Gov. Gavin Newsom first proposed redrawing congressional district maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to get more Democrats elected — a counter to a similar effort being considered by Texas Republicans to increase the number of GOP seats there — the reception was more lukewarm, even among members of Newsom’s own political party.
But in recent weeks, an increasing number of Democrats appear to be falling in line with the California governor’s proposal, coalescing around the idea that Democrats must “fight fire with fire” if Republicans seek to “rig” the elections in Texas and other red states.
Redistricting is a complicated process.
Redistricting mid-cycle, amid swirling political implications, is perhaps even more convoluted.
Nine of California’s 52 House seats are currently held by Republicans. If California Democratic leaders redraw maps in their party’s favor, that could potentially make Republican members of Congress — including Reps. Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa and Young Kim in Southern California — vulnerable to losing their seats next year because of how their districts’ boundaries would change.
Sara Sadhwani, a member of the state’s independent redistricting commission that drew the current California congressional maps, said she believes independent redistricting is best. Even still, Sadhwani, who teaches politics at Pomona College, said she’d support a temporary move away from California’s independent commission, given how Republicans in Texas are moving to change their districts to favor their party more.
“I stand by the maps that we drew as a commission,” Sadhwani said.
“They’re fair and competitive, and they reflect the will of the people of California,” she continued. “That being said, I also recognize that while California plays by a fair set of rules, most other states don’t. And that certainly puts Democrats at a disadvantage.”
“It’s not exactly a fair fight,” right now, she said. “It’s like bringing a rubber band to a gun fight.”
How redistricting even works
Redistricting refers to the process of redrawing political maps to define congressional or state legislative districts, as well as those for city councils and county boards of supervisors.
This process usually occurs once a decade, shortly after new U.S. Census figures come out.
Based on the updated census data, maps are redrawn to account for population shifts as people move in and out of different areas. The goal is to create districts that are roughly equal in population while ensuring that the voting power of minority groups doesn’t get diluted.
In California, district maps for U.S. House and state legislative seats used to be determined by the state legislature — which allowed the party in control to create maps that could benefit their party, including an incumbent candidate.
But that changed in 2008 when voters narrowly passed Proposition 11, the Voters FIRST Act, creating an independent panel tasked with drawing maps based on what is best for voter representation, not partisan politics. The goal was to prevent gerrymandering and to keep lawmakers from meddling in the process.
The redistricting conversation in California
Although redistricting typically happens in the early part of a new decade, Newsom wants to redraw congressional district maps mid-decade — in time for next year’s midterm elections.
The governor said his plan would only be “triggered” if Texas or other Republican-led states approve new maps. The Democratic-controlled state legislature would redraw California’s maps and put them before voters this November to approve.
The new maps would only be used for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. After that, California would revert back to having an independent commission draw new maps — and under the normal schedule, according to Newsom.
This about-face in how California does redistricting is intended to be a counter to Republican-led states, where, upon the urging of President Donald Trump, GOP lawmakers are considering redrawing their own congressional maps. They hope to shore up more Republicans in the House and stave off a Democratic wave in the upcoming midterm elections.
Experts predict Republicans could pick up an extra 12 seats in other states around the country, including Texas, Missouri and Florida.
California leaders are considering redrawing maps to pick up five new seats, to counter the five that Texas Republicans hope to sweep up in their own redistricting effort.
During a news conference Friday, Aug. 8, Newsom once again acknowledged that what Democrats are considering is a response to what Trump and his allies are attempting in certain red states.
“It wasn’t our decision to be here,” said Newsom, who supported independent redistricting when the idea was proposed in California nearly two decades ago. “We are trying to defend democracy as opposed to see it destroyed district by district.”
Should California move forward with Newsom’s plan, Sadhwani, a member of California’s independent commission, said she hopes every member of California’s congressional delegation would pledge to advocate for independent commissions in every other state going forward. California, she said, is only one of about a handful of states that decides its district boundaries with an independent group.
Democrats who support what Newsom is proposing have in recent weeks also been pushing the idea that if Republicans try to “rig” the elections, Democrats can’t sit idly by but must “fight fire with fire.” A number of Democrats have cast their counter-effort as a fight for democracy.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, in a recent interview, said that, unlike in Texas, where Republican leaders are attempting to redraw maps without voter consent, California voters would have the final say in how maps are redrawn.
“Here, for any redistricting to take place, it would have to go to the voters, and they would have to decide,” Martin said. “Voters still would have a say in this … so I don’t think it’s undemocratic, unlike in Texas.”
The argument against redistricting
Unsurprisingly, all nine members of California’s Republican congressional delegation — including those who represent communities in Southern California — object to Newsom’s proposal.
“A partisan political gerrymander is NOT what the voters of California want as they clearly stated when they passed the Voters FIRST Act and participated in the Citizens Redistricting Commission process,” the GOP lawmakers said in a joint statement last month.
The members called it a “shame” that Democrats are willing to spend hundreds of millions on a statewide special election while California is billions in deficit, “in order to silence the opposition in our state.”
But it’s not just Republicans who oppose Newsom’s proposal.
Common Cause, a nonpartisan group that advocates for fair maps and elections, is opposed to the plans being proposed in Texas and California.
Dan Vicuna, senior policy director for voting and fair representation at Common Cause, said that in the past, elected officials “at least had the decency to pay lip service to community input.”
“But now politicians are saying the quiet part out loud,” he said during a recent briefing with reporters. “They don’t care about community testimony or about weighing the varied interests of our friends and neighbors through a nonpartisan and deliberative process. They care only about raw political power.”
Vicuna said Common Cause is prepared to sue if it deems any maps unfair.
“We’ve been there before, and we will absolutely be there again to challenge unfair maps, regardless of who draws them,” he said.