California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is planning to hold a special election in November to have voters sign off on redrawing district maps that would favor Democrats in the U.S. Congress.
The move was made after several Republican-led states began redrawing their districts to increase chances of holding a GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
“We’re reacting to the president of the United States and [Texas] Gov. [Greg] Abbott trying to rig the election,” Newsom told reporters on July 31, referring to plans by Texas lawmakers to gain five Republican seats by redrawing their district maps. “They recognize they can’t win in the midterms.”
The Texas Legislature opened a special session on July 21 to consider redrawing its congressional maps.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said his state needs to redraw its districts because of constitutional
concerns raised by the U.S. Justice Department surrounding four Democrat-controlled districts.
A July 7 letter from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General Michael Gates of the Civil Rights Division outlines concerns that the state’s ninth, 18th, 29th, and 33rd congressional districts create unconstitutional “coalition districts” that run afoul of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment. Coalition districts combine different minority groups to create a potential majority.
President Donald Trump on July 15 expressed hope that Republicans in Texas may be able to pick up as many as five seats.
Legislatures in Florida and Ohio have followed Texas in plans to redraw their congressional districts in hopes of increasing their chances of holding a GOP majority in the House.
Newsom said that amounts to a power grab.
“It’s a big deal,” Newsom said at a news conference. “I don’t think it gets much bigger. And we’re going to respond in a transparent way, an honest way. ... But I’m not going to sit back any longer in a position, the fetal position, in a position of weakness.”
States redraw their districts every 10 years, typically following the U.S. Census, to ensure that congressional seats are proportionate in terms of population. The last redrawing took place in 2020. In most states, the state legislature controls congressional redistricting. California is one of a few states that have an independent, bipartisan commission in charge of redistricting. The special election means that the governor can temporarily pause the commission’s power and take the matter directly to the voters.
The governor said he is working with the Legislature to hold the special election in the first week of November, saying this would be most cost-effective because it would line up with regularly scheduled elections.
He said there was too much on the line to worry about cost.
“It’s the Mastercard commercial,” Newsom said. “Priceless. Democracy, values, rule of law.”
Newsom then suggested that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines in Los Angeles in June cost hundreds of millions of dollars, calling those funds wasted.
“This is what’s at stake with redistricting, this is what is at stake for our state,” the governor said.
Savannah Hulsey Pointer, Joseph Lord, and Jill McLaughlin contributed to this report.
