{"id":14654,"date":"2025-08-05T15:24:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=14654"},"modified":"2025-08-05T15:24:47","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:24:47","slug":"california-moves-to-dismantle-gop-map-and-trumps-grip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=14654","title":{"rendered":"California moves to dismantle GOP map \u2014 and Trump\u2019s grip"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Caucuses were briefed. Polls are being shared. And the push to swing California bluer is taking shape.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Jeremy B. White<\/a>,\u00a0Melanie Mason<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nicholas Wu<\/a><\/em>, POLITICO<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, accompanied by several members of the Texas state Legislature, calls for a new way for California to redraw its voting districts, during a news conference In Sacramento, Calif., Friday July 25, 2025. (AP Photo by Rich Pedroncelli)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

California\u2019s Texas-thwarting gerrymander<\/u><\/a> has swiftly transformed from fantasy to reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats in the House and the state Legislature are coalescing around a plan to draw a half-dozen Republican incumbents into oblivion \u2014 and persuade California voters to approve the new congressional maps before next year\u2019s midterms. Party leaders are closely tracking the dual-track developments in which lawmakers in Texas and California are moving, in partisan parallel, to shore up their respective party\u2019s House majorities. California Republicans are casting about for a way to avoid extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all points to a high-stakes, big-dollar brawl thrusting California to the center of the political universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLegally, we can do it,\u201d said Xavier Becerra, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Biden Cabinet secretary who is working with a voting rights institute that has briefed lawmakers<\/u><\/a>. \u201cPolitically, we must do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could result in as many as five new blue seats and Democrats holding all but four of California\u2019s 52 congressional districts, according to a slide presented to members of Congress and viewed by POLITICO. That analysis tracks with the presentation to Democrats in Sacramento, which envisioned forcing out GOP incumbents including Reps. David Valadao, Kevin Kiley and Darrell Issa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The redistricting sprint has accelerated over the last week. On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed<\/u><\/a> he intended to call a special election, likely in November. Over the weekend, as Texas Democrats sought to forestall a vote by fleeing the state, California House delegation leaders gave state lawmakers their most extensive briefing to date, including internal polling that found the gambit starting with a slender lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, members of the California delegation discussed their plan for mounting a redistricting campaign in the deep-blue state, according to five people familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump wants to change the rules so he can continue to use the full power of the federal government to punish California with zero congressional oversight,\u201d Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who briefed state and federal colleagues, said in a statement. \u201cIf these GOP mid-decade redistricting efforts do come to pass, our congressional delegation stands ready to work with our state legislative partners to respond. We will fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has been in close touch with Newsom, also recently met <\/u><\/a>with Democratic members of the California delegation to discuss redrawing the maps, and lawmakers emerged largely supportive of the effort. California House incumbents \u2014 even those who would be drawn into more competitive districts \u2014 are presenting a united front and downplaying any reservations about shifting lines complicating reelection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a mirror-image inversion of the situation in Texas, members of California\u2019s shrunken Republican delegation are trying to stave off defeat. Kiley has introduced a bill to bar mid-decade redistricting, and targeted Rep. Ken Calvert asked his local registrar to analyze the cost of a special election. California\u2019s last Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is weighing how to respond to a tactic he vehemently opposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know the last thing Riverside County residents want is to eliminate the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and replace it with insider Sacramento politicians gerrymandering district lines behind closed doors,\u201d Calvert said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Newsom initially floated a California gerrymander to neutralize Texas, the reaction last month was a mix of enthusiasm and deep skepticism<\/u><\/a> about the legal and political hurdles, given California\u2019s use of an independent redistricting commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as it became clear that Texas Republicans were unlikely to back down, Newsom pressed the issue, making California the tip of the spear for a counteroffensive embraced by Democrats at all levels of the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those dynamics make it likely the Democratic-dominated Legislature votes this month to put a new map on the ballot. While some expressed misgivings Sunday about a rushed process \u2014 to secure a November election, lawmakers will need to act quickly \u2014 several statehouse Democrats predicted they would muster the necessary two-thirds votes in each house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a fight any of us want to be in, but we\u2019re in it, so we\u2019re going to fight,\u201d said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing,\u201d she added, \u201cunites the California Democratic caucus quite like Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But getting Sacramento Democrats on board is one thing. Persuading California voters will be entirely different \u2014 particularly because they would be asked to return line-drawing power to politicians, letting the Legislature craft new lines until the commission takes over again in 2031 after the next census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVoters want to weigh in on redistricting because they don\u2019t trust politicians,\u201d said Chris Lehman, a political consultant who has worked on redistricting ballot initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A survey conducted by Newsom pollster David Binder found that 52 percent of California voters would approve of state lawmakers redrawing its congressional district lines if Texas Republicans pulled off a similar gambit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The measure becomes more popular if the fight becomes more overtly partisan; 60 percent of voters back \u201crejecting Trump\u2019s power grab.\u201d Roughly eight in 10 Democrats and six in 10 independents are in favor of the effort, according to a person who was briefed on the poll\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The messages tested in the poll underscore how California Democrats will portray this as a fight they have no choice but to take on. The proposed ballot measure would be contingent on Texas\u2019 new districts being enacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe polling shows that Californians overwhelmingly reject Trump\u2019s blatant power grab in Texas and want to fight back. The basic components of the program we are considering has strong support,\u201d said Los Angeles-area Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, another Democrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A successful ballot campaign would still require a titanic political effort. Assuming the Legislature acts, Newsom and allies will have just a few months to raise tens of millions of dollars and educate voters on a sudden, off-year election. Republican foes could be motivated to throw down. With little else on the ballot, that could yield an enormously expensive showdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019ll be the big question mark,\u201d said Brandon Castillo, a political consultant who specializes in ballot initiatives. \u201cDoes that national money pour in, on both sides?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caucuses were briefed. Polls are being shared. And the push to swing California bluer is taking shape. By Jeremy B. White, Melanie Mason and Nicholas Wu, POLITICO California’s Texas-thwarting gerrymander has swiftly transformed from fantasy to reality. Democrats in the House […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,64],"tags":[94,83,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-14654","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-slider","8":"category-california","9":"tag-2026-midterms","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14657,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14654\/revisions\/14657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}