SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday afternoon that will move forward a partisan redistricting plan aimed at winning Democrats five more U.S. House seats in the 2026 election.
Newsom’s approval will allow for a special election, leaving redistricting up to California voters.
READ: California Democrats introduce redistricting legislation, Republicans vow to fight
Republicans, who have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan, promised to keep fighting to stop it.
The legislation is a response by Democrats seeking to neutralize Texas Republicans’ push to adopt a new congressional map favoring the GOP at the urging of President Donald Trump. California’s vote comes a day after the Texas House approved a map to create five more winnable districts for Republicans.
Democrats have made the issue about more than maps, tying it explicitly to the fate of democracy in the country.
November special election
Voters will have the ultimate say in November.
Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California relies on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan and would need permission from voters to implement the new map.
If approved, the map would replace the existing one through 2030. Then the commission would take back mapmaking power after the next census.
Democrats currently hold 43 of California’s 52 U.S. House seats.
What lawmakers and voters are saying
What they’re saying:
Former President Barack Obama backed the redistricting plan on Wednesday, calling Newsom’s approach “smart and measured” in a social media post.
At a town hall in Albany, Calif. on Wednesday, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon did not mince words when voicing support for the plan to redraw California’s congressional districts.
“I will organize every single day until we get to that special election so we can fight these bastards in Texas and all over,” Simon said.
The lawmaker chimed in on Obama’s endorsement, saying it’s important, but emphasized the importance of getting California voters’ approval.
“The endorsements I am looking for is the mother who runs the laundromat at the corner and the babysitter and the nurse,” she said. “Those are the folks in California that I’m going to be working to convince that this is the right thing to do.”
A recent poll, as reported by Axios, shows 57% of California voters support the redistricting proposal, with 35% opposed and 8% undecided.
“Democrats are almost fully united in their support, with 84% in support and 13% opposed,” pollster David Binder noted in the Axios report.
But other recent polling shows voters opposed to taking power away from the Independent Redistricting Commission, according to previous KTVU reporting,
“It isn’t the way it’s supposed to be,” said Ken Hecht of Berkeley. “But we’re in it. We got to win it.”
“I think we need to think it through carefully,” said Christina Hecht of Berkeley.
“We have to do everything we can,” said Dr. Victor Pineda of Berkeley.
The Source: The Associated Press, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, previous KTVU reporting and interviews with Bay Area voters.
