Firing Back at Texas Redistricting, Newsom Calls Special Election to Authorize California Countermove

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called for a special election to authorize state redistricting, making good on his threat to redraw maps in response to a Republican redistricting scheme in Texas that could add five GOP seats in Congress. 

With the national balance of power at stake, some blue state leaders have vowed to cancel out any additional Texas GOP seats by creating more of their own Democratic congressional districts – all in an effort to prevent Republicans from rigging maps to keep their narrow House majority in the 2026 midterm election. With the White House pressuring Texas and other red states to redistrict, Newsom – a possible 2028 presidential candidate – became the first to step into the ring with a countermove. 

Unlike Texas maps, which are adopted by partisan state lawmakers, California maps are drawn by an independent redistricting commission. To maneuver around that, Newsom is asking California voters to approve a ballot measure Nov. 4 allowing the state to respond with its own mid-decade redistricting.

“We’re doing this in reaction to a president of the United States who called the sitting governor of the state of Texas and said, ‘Find me five seats,’” Newsom told supporters while announcing the special election. 

Newsom said voters will be asked to authorize a temporary pathway for new congressional maps, and the state would return to its independent redistricting commission model to redraw maps after the 2030 Census. 

Newsom said his state’s mid-decade redistricting effort, if approved by voters, will be different from the process taking place in Texas. 

“We’re working through a very transparent, temporary and very public process,” Newsom said. “We’re putting the maps on the ballot and we’re giving the power to the people.” 

Dozens of Texas Democrats have been blocking a vote on the GOP map for nearly two weeks by staying out of the state. State Rep. Gene Wu (D), chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said Thursday they will return to Austin once California introduces its redistricting maps to “neutralize” the Texas plan. 

“Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we’re prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts,” Wu said in a statement.

Newsom teased his special election announcement in a social media post mocking President Donald Trump’s all-caps, self-aggrandizing style: “I, GAVIN CHRISTOPHER NEWSOM, AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR (MANY SAY), WILL HOST THE GREATEST PRESS CONFERENCE OF ALL TIME. AFTER THAT — ‘THE MAPS’ WILL SOON BE RELEASED. VERY MUCH ANTICIPATED. HISTORY MADE. THE GOP’S RIGGED GAME IS OVER!!!! THE PEOPLE RETAKE CONGRESS. YOU’RE WELCOME, AMERICA!”

California’s 52-member congressional delegation is made up of 43 Democrats and nine Republicans. To cancel out changes to the Texas map, California would need to make five more seats Democratic – pushing their delegation from 82.7% Democratic up to 92%. In the 2024 presidential election, 58.5% of Californians voted for Kamala Harris, while 38.3% voted for Trump.

Texas, by comparison, has 25 Republicans, 12 Democrats and one (likely Democratic) vacancy in its congressional delegation. If it adds five more GOP seats, the delegation will be 78.9% Republican, up from the current 65.8%. In 2024, 56.1% of Texans voted for Trump and 42.5% voted for Harris.

Republicans are pushing for more seats not just in Texas, but also in Florida, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Like California, other blue states have signaled their willingness to redistrict in response, including New York, Illinois and Maryland.