With Democrats lining up for a bare-knuckle match on redistricting, Gov. Gavin Newsom has supplied President Trump a cease-fire proposal: No redrawing congressional maps in pink states and California will stand down, he wrote in a letter despatched to Trump on Monday morning.
“If you’ll not stand down, I might be compelled to guide an effort to redraw the maps in California to offset the rigging of maps in pink states,” he mentioned. “But when the opposite states name off their redistricting efforts, we’ll fortunately do the identical. And American democracy might be higher for it.”
Newsom’s newest play comes because the drama round redistricting heightened over the weekend. Democratic leaders in different blue states argued on Sunday morning political exhibits that they have been able to battle head-to-head over the congressional district maps, that are usually tied to the census taken as soon as a decade.
“Donald Trump is a cheater. He cheats on his wives, he cheats at golf, and now he’s making an attempt to cheat the American folks out of their votes,” mentioned Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Newsom has been at middle stage on this nationwide political struggle that might decide the result of the midterm elections and, by default, the energy of the president’s energy. The Republican-led Congress handed Trump “the massive stunning invoice” that may supercharge immigration enforcement — his signature concern. And it has been deferential to his whims, however the Republican Get together dropping management of the Home and Senate could be a serious blow to his agenda.
The nationwide political struggle is gearing up with a lot at stake for each events. Final week, Newsom hosted Texas Democrats who — below risk of arrest and every day $500 fines — had left the state in a bid to stop their Legislature from altering the congressional maps. And he vowed to “nullify” what occurs in Texas.
“You might be taking part in with fireplace, risking the destabilization of our democracy, whereas understanding that California can neutralize any features you hope to make,” he instructed Trump within the letter. “This try to rig congressional maps to carry onto energy earlier than a single vote is forged within the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy.”
Trump has been pushing the Texas GOP to redraw congressional district maps, saying they’re “entitled” to 5 seats. And he argued on CNBC final week that California was “gerrymandered,” stating the congressional delegation didn’t match the presidential vote outcomes.
However, not like some states, California has an unbiased redistricting committee.
On Friday, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung known as Newsom “a loser of the very best order” who would “by no means be president irrespective of how arduous he prostitutes himself to the press.”
The California’s redistricting plan could also be a dangerous gambit.
The plan requires the state Legislature to approve a constitutional modification establishing new congressional voting districts crafted to make GOP members susceptible. The invoice would create a Nov. 4 particular election through which voters would resolve whether or not to quickly pause congressional boundaries created by an unbiased redistricting fee in 2021 and undertake new maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.
If authorised by voters, the measure would come with a “set off” specifying that it might take impact provided that Texas or different Republican-led states adopted by with redrawing their maps to spice up GOP seats earlier than the midterm election. California would revert to its present redistricting legislation after the subsequent census and earlier than the 2032 election.
Instances workers writers Taryn Luna and Seema Mehta contributed to this report.
