Gov. Gavin Newsom officially launched his campaign to redraw California’s congressional districts — meant to favor Democrats in the state as a counter to similar, Republican-led efforts elsewhere in the country — with a rally largely focused on immigration.
Newsom, flanked by California’s Democratic leaders at the Japanese American Museum’s National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in downtown Los Angeles, said California voters would be tasked with approving new congressional maps for next year’s midterm elections with a special election in November.
Standing behind a podium labeled “Election Rigging Response Act” in red and white, Newsom made good on his warning to President Donald Trump that the nation’s most populous state won’t sit idly by while Republicans in Texas, and perhaps elsewhere, attempt to “rig” the 2026 House races in favor of the GOP. Some 150 guests in the crowd — among them, college students, labor folks and lawmakers — hoisted blue and white signs that read, “Defend Democracy.”
Newsom said California’s redistricting efforts are “in reaction” to Trump’s request to Texas and other red states. He said the effort is also “mindful that we want to model better behavior” and issued a challenge to other Democratic-led states to also consider countering red states.
“I know they say don’t mess with Texas. Well, don’t mess with the great Golden States,” Newsom said.
Currently, 43 of California’s 52 House seats are held by Democrats, with the remaining nine held by Republicans. But under the newly proposed maps, Democrats could potentially pick up another five seats, a counter to the five that Texas Republicans are hoping to flip through their own redistricting process.
Newsom said new maps will be voted on by the California Legislature when lawmakers return from recess next week. Already, the Senate’s elections committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, Aug. 19, on redistricting legislation.
With Democrats holding a super-majority in the state Capitol, Newsom and the state’s Democratic leaders expressed confidence that they have enough votes to get the maps approved.
Assuming that happens, Newsom will call a special election, and the proposed maps would be placed on the Nov. 4 ballot for Californians to vote on. They would then be used for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, but only for congressional races.
After that, California would go back to having an independent commission redraw congressional maps, following the next scheduled U.S. Census count.
Several speakers at Thursday’s rally, including the governor, spoke about the Trump administration’s ramped-up immigration enforcement actions, putting in context how which party controls Congress could impact those efforts.
“People are scared. People are fearful,” Newsom said.
The Democracy Center, where Newsom held his rally, bills itself as a place to explore, through arts and other public programs, “the rights, freedoms and fragility of democracy, helping to build bridges, and find common ground between people of diverse backgrounds and opinions.” It “convenes people of all ages and diverse backgrounds to examine issues about race, identity and social justice to transform attitudes, celebrate culture and promote civic engagement,” according to its website.
“It is a five-alarm fire for democracy in the United States of America,” Newsom said in a campaign ad for the redistricting effort, released just as Thursday’s rally got underway.
Trump’s election rigging comes to an end now. California won’t stand by and watch Trump burn it all down — we are calling a special election to redraw our Congressional maps and defend fair representation.
This is a five alarm fire for Democracy. Vote YES November 4. pic.twitter.com/7MQz6LjaG6
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 14, 2025
The ad points to a new website supporting the redistricting effort, which warns, among images of Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, “If Californians don’t act now, Donald Trump will rig the 2026 election and steal control of Congress.” The site also invites supporters to “make a contribution to the Election Rigging Response Act.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lawmakers in attendance included both of California’s U.S. senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, as well as a handful of Democratic Reps. Judy Chu, Laura Friedman, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Luz Rivas, Brad Sherman and Maxine Waters.
The governor’s office telegraphed Newsom’s intentions earlier this week, publishing a series of X posts apparently meant to mock the president by mimicking his style —– by using all caps, plus quotation marks and exclamation points throughout, and language in a manner consistent with Trump’s own social media posts.
On Wednesday afternoon, an X post from the governor’s press office mentioned a “‘BEAUTIFUL RALLY’” happening Thursday with Newsom and other Democrats.
“DEMOCRATS WILL DESTROY GREG ABBOTT’S ‘TOTALLY RIGGED MAPS,’” the post said, referring to the governor of Texas. The post went on to tell Trump to “GET READY FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PAYBACK YOU’VE EVER SEEN!!! COULD BE THE WORST DAY OF YOUR LIFE AS YOUR PRESIDENCY ENDS (DEMS RETAKE CONGRESS!). AMERICA WILL BE LIBERATED — ‘LIBERATION DAY’ MANY ARE CALLING IT!!!”
Although Newsom’s pitch for California to redraw its congressional maps mid-cycle to counter GOP efforts in Texas initially received a more lukewarm response, even from members of his own party, more Democratic leaders have appeared to fall in line in recent weeks.
And one fair election advocacy group has toned down its criticism of California’s redistricting effort.
Common Cause, a nonpartisan group that advocates for fair maps and elections, had previously criticized both Texas and California leaders for considering passing new gerrymandered maps.
While it still opposes partisan gerrymandering, Common Cause this week said that Trump and Republican leaders are attempting “to lock in unaccountable power.”
The group said it understood why some states are considering “counterbalancing measures” and would not condemn new maps that meet its fairness criteria.
“We will not endorse partisan gerrymandering even when its motive is to offset more extreme gerrymandering by a different party,” Common Cause said in a statement. “But a blanket condemnation in this moment would amount to a call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarian efforts to undermine fair representation and people-powered democracy.”
Republicans, meanwhile, continued to denounce Newsom’s plans.
On Wednesday evening, Assembly Republicans accused Democrats of “rigging” next year’s midterm election by redrawing maps behind closed doors and ramming them through for a legislative vote “with no real opportunity for public input.”
“The consequences of gutting California’s voter-approved independent redistricting are clear: tossing out a process that held 196 public meetings, heard 3,870 verbal comments, and received 32,410 written submissions from Californians before finalizing the current maps,” Assembly Republicans said in a statement.
“If Sacramento politicians can toss out the maps your independent commission drew, they can toss out every voter-approved reform,” they said.
The 2026 midterm primary election is less than 10 months away.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.