Los Angeles. The national battle over redistricting enters its second round on Thursday when the California Legislature plans to pave the way for the approval of a new congressional map that will help the Democratic Party gain five more seats in the House of Representatives in 2026 and counter Republican efforts to retain the majority.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed the California Electoral Fraud Response Act on Thursday, authorizing special elections to be held on November 4 for voters to approve new maps that favor Democrats, along with other related regulations.
The measures are a direct response to an initiative led by US President Donald Trump in the state of Texas, where Republicans are determined to secure at least five additional seats by redistributing electoral districts, which would make it easier for the party to retain control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections.
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 best opportunity for the Blue Party to counter Republican redrawing in Texas is in California, a predominantly Democratic state that has the largest number of congressional districts in the country, with 52.
«We are responding to those who fired the first shot. We wouldn’t be here if Texas hadn’t done what it just did,» Newsom said at the signing of the laws.
«The people of California will have a transparent opportunity to determine their destiny,» added the Democrat.
US President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Photo: AP
Newsom vs. Trump
The governor of California has led the response against the Republican president’s plan, which gave him the opportunity to stop the redistricting that usually takes place every ten years based on census figures.
Newsom, who is positioning himself as a serious Democratic candidate to win back the White House in the 2028 elections, warned in a message on his X account that Trump «openly admitted» that the only way to win is by suppressing the vote, celebrating the approval of the new maps by the Texas House of Representatives.
Texas State Representative Todd Hunter, author of the new map plan, publicly acknowledged yesterday that the fundamental objective of this plan is to «improve Republican political performance.»
Miguel Tinker Salas, retired professor of history at Pomona College, believes that this message touches on the key point in the national battle for redistribution.
«It is a contradiction on the part of President Trump and the Republicans to want to manipulate the elections when they are supposedly doing ‘very well’ and their government has delivered results,» said the professor.
Salas believes that the Republican plan responds to a genuine fear within the party of failing in both the midterm elections and the 2028 elections, even in Republican districts.
«No matter how many distractions the government imposes, voters go to the supermarket every day and see how prices have risen, and that’s what really matters,» the professor points out.
Without a sure winner
The confrontation is far from over, and neither side has secured victory. Newsom has not yet secured approval for the new maps.
The Democratic governor needs to appeal to voters because, since 2010, responsibility for congressional maps has fallen under the jurisdiction of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC), an independent entity that uses new data.
s of the census to redefine the boundaries of the districts of Congress, 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 hailed as an example of nonpartisanship.
Added to this is criticism about how much the special elections will cost, just when the state has made cuts to its budget.
In contrast, Republicans in Texas have a clear path for their new map. On Thursday, the bill moved forward in the state Senate for quick approval and then on to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, who has promised to sign it as soon as possible.
However, Democrats in that state have promised to take the battle to the courts.
In this regard, Newsom has already won a battle against Republicans in his state, when the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that it would not prevent Democrats from moving forward with a plan to redraw congressional districts, following a lawsuit filed by the Republican minority.
The California governor has also raised more than $6 million in 200,000 donations in one week to redraw the electoral maps.
«Watch out, Donald Trump, your plan for electoral fraud is about to fall apart,» Newsom warned on X on Thursday.
