California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Aug. 21 signed a legislative package to put a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot that would redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Democrats, in response to Texas redistricting efforts.
The tally in the lower state Assembly was 57–20. The measure passed the state Senate in a 30–8 vote, and was signed into law by Newsom about 30 minutes after the legislature approved it.
The series of bills—combined into a package dubbed the Election Rigging Response Act—establishes new maps for congressional districts, gives authorization for the redrawn map to replace the current one, and declares a Nov. 4 special election to seek Californians’ approval of the change.
The bill’s passage comes as the Texas Senate presses forward with a vote to authorize a redrawn map of the state’s congressional districts.
A Texas Senate committee approved the bill to create the new map on Thursday evening. Though a vote on final passage was initially expected the same evening, that vote is now expected after the Senate reconvenes on Friday.
If the map is approved by the state legislature, it will go to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.
Congressional maps are usually drawn once a decade following the decennial census, and mid-decade redistricting is a relatively rare phenomenon.
Newsom, the leading advocate for redrawing California’s maps, has said the move is intended to “meet fire with fire,” responding to Texas’s efforts to expand GOP control of its U.S. House delegation by five seats.
Leaders in both chambers defended the move ahead of the vote.
“We are prepared and we will fight fire with fire,“ California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said. “We will do whatever it takes to defend our democracy. We will do whatever it takes to protect the voices, the votes, and the rights of every American.”
On Aug. 20, the Texas House passed a new congressional map when previously absent Democratic lawmakers returned after being assured of California’s efforts to counter Texas’s move.
The California legislative package would redraw the boundaries for five currently GOP-held districts to increase their share of voters who are Democrats.
Three California Republicans—Reps. Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa, and Ken Calvert—are particularly endangered by the change, as their districts are on track to be inundated by voters who backed Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
Two other Republican seats at risk—currently held by Reps. Darrell Issa and David Valadao—could still stay under GOP control, according to The Cook Political Report, although retaining these districts will become substantially more difficult under the redrawn maps.
California, the most populous state in the union, currently holds 52 seats in the U.S. House, 43 of which are held by Democrats.
Newsom and other California Democrats have said their move was purely reactive to that of Texas Republicans, while some critics of the plan have said that it flouts the state’s constitution.
Specifically, under a 2008 constitutional amendment adopted by a referendum, redistricting in California is handled by an independent commission.
To get around that, Newsom and other state Democrats are pushing for the approval of a new referendum to temporarily bypass the nonpartisan commission and allow the voting public to approve the Democrat-proposed maps.
Former President Barack Obama expressed support for Newsom’s move.
“I believe that Gov. Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach. He said this is going to be responsible. We’re not going to try to completely maximize it,” he said at an Aug. 19 fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
“We’re only going to do it if and when Texas and/or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn’t go into effect.”
In an interview with California Capitol journalist Eytan Wallace, state Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, a Republican from San Diego, described the push as “corrupt, illegitimate, and illegal effort by politicians to remove citizens from [the process of] drawing the lines and [give] the power back to politicians.”
DeMaio also criticized the Republican bid to increase their hold on the Texas House delegation, saying, “Gerrymandering is wrong no matter who’s doing it, whether it’s done by a red state or a blue state.”
“We want the citizens to be able to draw the lines, not the politicians,” he said.
Kiley, the congressman whose seat is most at risk by the redrawn maps, has similarly criticized both states’ efforts at mid-decade redistricting.
When asked for his thoughts on Democrats who fled Texas to delay a vote on Texas Republicans’ bill, Kiley told local news outlet KTLA 5: “I think people are looking at that and saying, ‘This is not the way the political process is supposed to work.’ I think it does underscore the need to restore sanity to this whole process.”
A bill introduced by Kiley would ban mid-decade redistricting entirely.
Under the California proposal, voters would be given the option to vote only for or against the predetermined maps in the referendum and not on how the maps should be drawn.
Still, observers say the measure is likely to be approved by voters in the deep blue state.
Neama Rahmani, a California-based lawyer and legal commentator, previously told The Epoch Times that the measure is likely to pass if placed on the ballot later this year. “California is a heavily blue state throwing a lot of money at this,” Rahmani said.
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