California hits back at Texas’ gerrymandering

Fighting fire with fire, California has passed new laws that allow it to modify the electoral maps of the state, the most populous in the country. The vote in the local Congress came just a day after Texas, a Republican stronghold, modified its electoral districts in a bid to expand its representation in the House of Representatives in the midterm 2026 elections.

California lawmakers have taken the first step in their strategy to punch back: on November 4, new electoral maps will be put to a popular referendum in a special election. Democrats have passed three new laws. The first is an amendment to the state Constitution to adopt the new maps, a practice known as gerrymandering. The second includes new congressional district limits to favor Democrats. The third rule is the one that calls for a special vote to endorse the modification. The election is necessary because the legislature has usurped the functions of a special independent commission entrusted with drawing these maps with demographic information obtained from population censuses.

The legislative process went smoothly, with Republicans holding only 19 of the 80 seats in Sacramento’s lower house. This minority had gone to the state Supreme Court to try to stop the Democrats’ gerrymandering bid. In an emergency lawsuit filed this week, they accused the ruling party of committing irregularities. The court’s judges, however, dismissed the lawsuit late Wednesday. Even so, two members of the Democratic caucus abstained in a vote, which passed with 57 votes in favor and 20 against.

Once the initiatives were approved by the Assembly, they went to the local Senate, where they also received the approval of the majority. California Governor Gavin Newsom then signed the initiatives, the final step in the process.“They fired the first shot, Texas. We wouldn’t be here had Texas not done what they just did,” Newsom said during a signing ceremony Thursday. “We’re neutralizing what occurred [in Texas] and we’re giving the American people a fair chance.”

At the start of the legislative debate, Marc Berman, a congressman who represents a district near San Francisco, explained why they were making the changes: “Let me be crystal clear: We don’t want this fight, and we didn’t choose this fight, but with our democracy on the line, we cannot and will not run away from this fight,” he said.

Congressman Mike Gallagher, the Republican minority leader in the California Assembly, admitted that it was wrong for Trump to start this national redistricting war by demanding five more House seats by gerrymandering in Texas, a state he won outright last year. But Gallagher doubted that the correct answer is to respond in kind. “You move forward fighting fire with fire and what happens?” Gallagher asked. “You burn it all down.”

Gallagher was referencing Newsom’s own words. One of Trump’s leading critics, Newsom has been vowing for weeks to fight fire with fire if Texas went ahead. The feisty response has translated into new sympathies at a time when the Democratic Party is looking for a clear path to deal with the Trump administration. The New York Times says that the strategy has prompted donations from Democratic supporters, who have sent an estimated $6.2 million to the Californian governor — a possible presidential candidate for 2028 — in the space of a week.

If approved in November, the new maps would alter districts to make it more likely for Democratic candidates in five regions to win. The First District, for example, would be split in two to include metropolitan areas in what was once a deeply conservative rural territory in the north near the Nevada border. The change would challenge House Representative Doug LaMalfa, who has held the position for 12 years.

The plans will also allow many progressive voters outside Sacramento, the state capital, to vote in the Third Legislative District, diluting Congressman Kevin Kiley’s voter base. The new maps could also make Democratic victories more comfortable in some areas where Republicans have closed the gap. This is the case in the 9th and 13th, which was the closest-run race in the country in 2024, with Congressman Adam Gray winning it by less than 200 votes. Republicans have a slight lead in the House of Representatives. They have 219 legislators compared to the Democrats’ 212. Texas Republican representatives occupy 25 of the state’s 38 congressional districts. In California, Democrats have 43 of the 52 congresspeople.

Some analysts believe the move may backfire on the Democrats. Several Republican states have put plans in place to follow in Texas’ footsteps and thus turn some blue districts into red. Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri are all preparing to do so. Pushed through, this could lead to the Republicans gaining up to eight new seats. So far, California is the only progressive stronghold that has made good on its threat. New York has mulled joining the gerrymandering war, but has not yet done so.

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