Democrats strike back: Newsom calls special election in California to approve new electoral map in response to Texas

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday called a special election to try to approve a redrawing of voting districts in the Golden State in response to the initiative by Republicans in Texas, who are doing their own redrawing to win five federal congressional seats.

Newsom, who had previously warned that he would respond to Republican efforts, sharply criticized President Donald Trump for, he said, attempting to "rig" elections through redistricting. At a press conference, the governor further called on Democrats to pass his initiative, dubbed the Election Rigging Response Act.

Newsom's call for redistricting is already drawing heavy criticism, with some influential figures in California politics taking a stand against it, including former governor and celebrated actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people," Schwarzenegger spokesman Daniel Ketchell said of the actor's stance on gerrymandering. "He’s opposed to what Texas is doing, and he’s opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing."

Republicans had also responded to Newsom through Christian Martinez, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

"Gavin Newsom’s latest stunt has nothing to do with Californians and everything to do with consolidating radical Democrat power, silencing California voters, and propping up his pathetic 2028 presidential pipe dream."

The idea behind Newsom's initiative is to pave the way for California Democrats to bypass the independent commission that controls the state's map-drawing process. By doing so, they would get the Democratic Party a much more favorable map. In other words, the Democrats would do exactly what the Republicans did in Texas.

"It's not complicated. We're doing this in reaction to a president of the United States that called a sitting governor of the state of Texas and said, 'Find me five seats,'" Newsom said during the press conference. "We're doing it in reaction to that act. We're doing it mindful of our higher angels and better angels. We're doing it mindful that we want to model better behavior, as we've been doing for 15 years in the state of California with our independent redistricting commission. But we cannot unilaterally disarm."

Newsom then took aim at Trump and asked Americans for more attention on the map issue, calling it a democratic fight. 

“Wake up, America. Wake up. You will not have a country if he rigs this election. You will have a president who will be running for a third term. Mark my word. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that I received in the mail a Trump 2028 ad from one of his biggest supporters. These guys are not screwing around. The rules do not apply to him. The most corrupt president in history. He doesn't believe in free enterprise or crony capitalism. He is wrecking this country, wrecking the economy. He's a lawless president. Wake up, America. Wake up to what's going on.”

What Newsom denounces as a partisan, gerrymandered redistricting by Republicans in Texas is practically popularly known as gerrymandering, applied by both parties in the past to improve their electoral performances. The Democratic Party, in particular, has also been accused of applying it in states such as Illinois, New Mexico, or Nevada, where nonpartisan observers have detected maps drawn to favor their party. Even some of its leaders have publicly acknowledged that, in this field, both sides have played by the same rules.

Unlike Republicans in Texas, Democrats alone cannot circumvent the independent commission that distributes district maps. So to accomplish this, Newsom first calls for a special election that must be approved by lawmakers and then endorsed by voters at the ballot box. Only with that dual endorsement could the established process be temporarily modified and allow the legislature to redraw districts without commission intervention, with the goal of having the new maps in place for the 2026 election.

For the proposal to pass, at least two-thirds of the state legislature must vote in favor. If approved, the special election would be held next Nov. 4.

Newsom's call coincides with the advance of Republicans in Texas to approve new district maps, while Democrats are trying to break quorum and delay the measure as long as possible. To that end, they have boycotted the special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, taking the risk of facing stiff penalties ranging from hefty fines to possible jail time. The new maps, endorsed by President Trump, have already been approved in the state Senate and await only the approval of the Texas House and, subsequently, Abbott's signature.