The national dispute over United States electoral redistricting will enter its second phase on Thursday, when the California Legislature is expected to approve a new congressional map that will help the Democratic Party gain an additional five seats in the House of Representatives in 2026, thereby counteracting Republican efforts to maintain their majority.
On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed the Election Rigging Response Act, authorizing special elections on Nov. 4 to allow voters to approve the new maps favouring Democrats, along with other related legislation.
These measures directly respond to an initiative led by US President Donald Trump in Texas, where Republicans are determined to secure at least five additional seats through redistricting, which would make it easier for the party to retain the House of Representatives in the midterm elections.
The marathon vote in California on Thursday comes a day after the Texas House of Representatives approved a new map that would take at least five seats from Democrats in districts with Latino and African-American communities.
California is the Democrats’ best chance to counteract the Republicans’ redrawing of electoral districts in Texas, as it is a predominantly Democratic state with the largest number of congressional districts in the country, at 52.
«They fired the first shot, Texas. We wouldn’t be here had Texas not done what they just did,» Newsom declared at the signing of the laws.
«We’re neutralizing what occurred (in Texas) and we’re giving the American people a fair chance,» the Democrat added.
Newsom vs. Trump
The governor of California has led the response against the Republican president’s plan. He gave Trump the opportunity to stop redistricting, which is usually carried out every 10 years based on census figures.
Presenting himself as a serious Democratic contender for the White House in the 2028 elections, Newsom warned in an X post that Trump had «openly admitted» the only way to win is to suppress the vote, celebrating the Texas House of Representatives’ approval of the new maps.
On Wednesday, Texas State Representative Todd Hunter, the author of the new maps plan, publicly acknowledged that its fundamental objective is to «improve Republican political performance.»
Miguel Tinker Salas, a retired history professor at Pomona College, considers that this message gets to the heart of the national redistricting debate.
«It is contradictory of President Trump and the Republicans to want to manipulate elections when they are supposedly doing things ‘very well’ and their government has delivered results,» the professor told EFE.
Salas said that the Republican plan is a response to the party’s genuine fear of failing in both the midterm and 2028 elections, even in Republican districts.
«No matter how many distractions the government creates, voters go to the supermarket every day and realize that prices have gone up. That’s what really matters,» he noted.
There is no clear winner
The confrontation is far from over, with neither side having secured victory. Newsom still does not have approval for the new maps.
This is because, since 2010, the responsibility for congressional maps has been under the jurisdiction of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, an independent entity that uses new census data to redefine the boundaries of congressional districts, the state Senate, the state Assembly, and the State Board of Equalization. The Democratic governor, therefore, needs to resort to voters.
The Governor and Legislature aim to ask voters to approve the new districts for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections, and then revert to the non-partisan model.
Added to this are criticisms about the cost of the special elections, at a time when the state has made budget cuts.
In contrast, Republicans in Texas have a clear path for their new map. On Thursday, the bill advanced in the state Senate for swift approval and could soon reach Governor Greg Abbott, who has pledged to sign it promptly.
However, Democrats in Texas have promised to take the battle to the courts.
In this regard, Newsom has already won a battle against the Republicans in his state, as the California Supreme Court ruled that the Democrats could proceed with their plan to redraw congressional districts, despite a lawsuit filed by the Republican minority.
The California governor also raised over six million dollars through 200,000 donations in a week to draw the new electoral maps.
«The people of California will have the power to push back against Texas and any other state that obeys Donald Trump’s demand to rig the next election,» Newsom warned on X on Thursday.
