Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political ambitions have reached a brand new low. In his efforts to appear like a “fighter” forward of a possible run for the presidency in 2028, he’s prepared to disregard democratic guidelines in pursuit of political goals, setting apart the state’s unbiased redistricting system to counter Texas Republicans’ proposed partisan gerrymander. Newsom and his allies need to maximise the variety of California Democrats elected to Congress in subsequent yr’s midterm elections.
In 2008 and 2010, California voters handed poll initiatives that gave the ability to attract the state’s legislative and congressional district traces to the California Residents Redistricting Fee, a 14-person unbiased physique composed of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 4 people who find themselves registered with neither of the 2 main events. Potential commissioners undergo an intensive vetting and choice course of (which the state Legislature participates in) and are prohibited from many types of political activism, together with donating to candidates, operating for workplace or working for elected officers.
Because the newest redistricting, in 2021 — triggered as regular by the constitutionally mandated decennial census — the map crafted by the fee has survived authorized and political challenges, and the present districts are set to be in place by the following spherical of redistricting in 2031.
Now Newsom needs to prematurely redraw the traces and craft his personal partisan gerrymander for the November 2026 midterm elections, wresting management of the method away from the fee and giving it as a substitute to the Democratic majority within the state Legislature. Final week, Newsom confirmed that he’ll name a particular election to get voter approval for this end-run across the fee, however even dressed up with a vote, that is cynical politics, not democracy, at work.
Newsom’s excuse is the sudden partisan redistricting Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and President Trump are backing to extend the variety of Republicans elected to Congress from that state, and in flip, to reinforce the get together’s possibilities to retain management of the U.S. Home of Representatives.
California Meeting Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) calls the Texas motion a “Trumpian energy seize,” and Newsom assails it because the “rigging of the system by the president of the US.” (Current public opinion analysis performed by Newsom’s pollster revealed that the general public is extra prone to assist a California redistricting maneuver if the struggle has Trump, not Texas, because the central villain.)
However two wrongs don’t make a proper.
A key distinction between the proposed line redrawing in Texas and the California plan is that the previous, nevertheless brazen, is authorized and precedented, whereas the latter particularly contravenes California legislation and the expressed will of the state’s voters. In Texas, legislators are entrusted with drawing district traces, and a mid-decade partisan gerrymander they executed in 2003, once more to spice up Republican illustration within the U.S. Home, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Courtroom (apart from one district whose traces violated the Voting Rights Act).
However California voters explicitly positioned the drawing of district traces within the arms of the unbiased residents’ fee to take politicians out of the method. Commissioners draw district traces based mostly on quite a few components, together with legal guidelines, judicial choices and inhabitants shifts. They’re sure by a primary rule: District traces can’t be drawn to purposefully profit a particular get together or candidate. And all of the fee’s deliberations should occur in public. The maps they’ve devised have been criticized by each Democrats and Republicans; and that’s one of many many explanation why California voters entrusted the fee with this necessary energy.
If Newsom will get his approach, California’s districts for the 2026 midterm will make sure the election of as few Republicans as attainable. Current stories recommend that his gerrymander will imply Republicans win solely 4 out of 52 Home seats (9%), in contrast with the present California delegation, which incorporates 9 Republicans (17%). Republicans make up about 25% of California’s registered voters and statewide Republican candidates have received roughly 40% of the vote over the previous few election cycles.
The truth that Newsom’s plan returns the ability to redistrict to the residents fee after the midterms makes it no much less a subversion of the democratically expressed will of California’s voters. So as to add insult to harm, the price of the particular election to ratify the scheme is estimated to be about $60 million in Los Angeles County alone, with statewide prices probably exceeding $200 million.
By bending electoral guidelines in service of their very own political pursuits, Newsom and California Democrats turn out to be no higher than Abbott and Texas Republicans. And Newsom’s hypocrisy strains the credibility of his argument that Trump and his allies are diminishing democracy.
If Newsom strikes ahead together with his cynical plan, Californians will not less than have the ability to reject it on the poll field this November. Voters ought to reinforce their dedication to minimizing the position of partisanship and politics in redistricting, and to the unbiased California Residents Redistricting Fee.
Lanhee J. Chen, a contributing author to Opinion, is an American public coverage fellow on the Hoover Establishment. He was a Republican candidate for California controller in 2022.
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Concepts expressed within the piece
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The creator characterizes Governor Newsom’s redistricting plan as a cynical political maneuver pushed by presidential ambitions somewhat than democratic ideas, arguing that the governor is prepared to disregard established democratic guidelines to look as a “fighter” for a possible 2028 presidential run.
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California voters intentionally established the unbiased Residents Redistricting Fee by poll initiatives in 2008 and 2010 to take away politicians from the redistricting course of, making a 14-person physique with balanced partisan illustration that should draw district traces based mostly on authorized necessities somewhat than political profit[2][4].
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The proposed plan represents a elementary subversion of the democratically expressed will of California voters, as it could quickly wrest management from the unbiased fee and place it within the arms of the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, immediately contradicting the intent of the voter-approved system.
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Whereas Texas Republicans’ redistricting efforts could also be politically brazen, they continue to be authorized and precedented inside Texas legislation, whereas California’s plan particularly contravenes state legislation and the expressed will of voters who explicitly eliminated redistricting energy from politicians[1][3].
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The monetary price of implementing this plan can be substantial, with estimates suggesting roughly $60 million for Los Angeles County alone and statewide prices probably exceeding $200 million for the particular election wanted to ratify the scheme.
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The plan would create an excessive partisan gerrymander that would cut back Republican illustration from 9 Home seats to doubtlessly solely 4 out of 52 complete seats, regardless of Republicans comprising about 25% of California’s registered voters and Republican candidates usually profitable roughly 40% of the vote in statewide elections.
Totally different views on the subject
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Newsom and Democratic supporters body the redistricting plan as a needed defensive response to President Trump’s broader nationwide push for Republican redistricting efforts, with the California governor stating that Trump is probably going “making related calls all throughout this nation” and evaluating it to Trump’s efforts to “discover” votes in Georgia after the 2020 election[3].
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The plan features a “set off” mechanism designed to make sure California would solely proceed with redistricting if Texas Republicans transfer ahead with their very own map modifications, with Newsom emphasizing that is “trigger and impact, triggered on the premise of what happens or doesn’t happen in Texas”[3].
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Democratic lawmakers and California congressional delegation members have signaled assist for the retaliatory redistricting effort, assembly with Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries to debate attainable Democratic responses to Texas’ redistricting plan[1].
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Proponents argue that the unbiased redistricting fee is just constitutionally mandated to attract new traces as soon as each decade, leaving the method for mid-decade redistricting legally open and obtainable for legislative or voter-approved modifications[1].
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Meeting Speaker Robert Rivas characterizes the Texas redistricting effort as a “Trumpian energy seize,” whereas Newsom describes it because the “rigging of the system by the president of the US,” positioning California’s response as defending democratic illustration in opposition to Republican manipulation[3].
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Democratic supporters view the plan because the final bulwark in opposition to Republican management of the Home of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections, which they see as essential for checking President Trump’s actions throughout his second time period[3].
