California Democrats voted Thursday to approve a package of bills that together set up a November special election in which voters will be asked to greenlight a new congressional map. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) swiftly signed the package of bills into law, officially allowing California voters to decide whether to let lawmakers redraw the state’s congressional map.
The proposed new map, which could give Democrats five new seats in Congress, aims to counter Texas’ gerrymander. The Texas map, which came after pressure from President Donald Trump, is likely to hand the GOP five new congressional seats of its own. Texas lawmakers are slated to pass their map Friday.
The California package was debated in both legislative chambers simultaneously Thursday. Applause broke out in the Assembly when the chamber passed the constitutional amendment authorizing the maps by a 57-20 vote. The chamber passed the maps themselves and a bill funding the redistricting by similar margins, while the Senate passed each of the three measures along party lines.
California Assemblyman Marc Berman (D) said his party was pushed into passing the legislation.
“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,” Berman said. “We’re here today because President Trump and Republicans in Texas and other states are attempting to redraw congressional districts mid-decade in an effort to rig the upcoming election.”
California Republicans decried the legislation, saying Democrats were ignoring procedural rules to rush it into law.
“The fact that we’re even talking about redistricting on this floor today is a violation of the oath to uphold the state constitution,” Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R) said. “You don’t possess the authority to do this. The voters already decided and took you out of the process.”
“When we are elected, we swear an oath to uphold both the U.S. and Californian constitution, regardless of what any other state does,” Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R) said. “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court denied a petition, brought by DeMaio and other GOP lawmakers, that sought to block the bill’s consideration.
The legislative package would set a Nov. 4 special election for voters to consider the redistricting proposal, which would add five new Democratic-leaning seats. The new map would only go into effect if another state first redrew its own congressional districts, as Texas looks set to do.
The Texas State Senate is set to vote Friday on the maps the House passed Wednesday. Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who quickly called a special legislative session after Trump asked for help ahead of the midterm elections, is expected to sign.
California’s measure won’t eliminate the state’s independent redistricting commission, even if California voters approve the redistricting plan. Instead, it will retain the authority to draw maps starting with the next redistricting cycle in 2031.
One of the amendment’s cosponsors, Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, is the son of the lawmaker who spent a decade championing the creation of California’s independent redistricting commission and later pushed for federal legislation to end gerrymandering in Congress.
Lowenthal, invoking the memory of his late father, said he was “deeply torn,” but ultimately felt compelled to support the legislation.
“Because Texas has now shamelessly affected the national balance of power, our nation’s democracy is faced with the exigency of existential dimensions. If unaddressed, Texas’ actions — which occurred without the vote of its populace — will disenfranchise Californians,” Lowenthal said. “We must not allow Californian voices to be silenced. It is imperative that Californians have a voice in selecting the political party that controls Congress in 2026. The most fundamental concept in our democracy, upon which the collective value system is predicated, is fairness.”
Texas and California’s map duel may be just the opening salvo in a redistricting war between Democratic and Republican states. Republican party leaders in Missouri seem prepared to call a special legislative session to redraw the Show Me State’s congressional maps to gain another safe seat, while Indiana’s Republican congressional delegation supports their state doing the same. Democratic-led states like Illinois and Maryland have similarly looked to respond in kind.
This mapmaking race-to-the-bottom was made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Rucho v. Common Cause, which ruled that partisan gerrymandering was a nonjusticiable political question that courts were not empowered to resolve.
