California lawmakers returned to the state Capitol on Monday to begin their march toward passing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) redistricting plan, vowing to “fight back” and even the scales ahead of the midterm elections.
“[President Donald] Trump sparked this national crisis when he called Texas to rig the election,” Robert Rivas, the Democratic speaker of the California Assembly, said, adding that the state has been on the “front lines” of a presidential “power grab.”
“The more power Donald Trump and the Republicans seek, the more power they demand,” he said.
Rivas was joined at an afternoon press conference with his Democratic colleagues in the state legislature and the U.S. House delegation.
Newsom wants the legislature to pass a package of three bills this week that would ask voters to approve new boundaries for 2026, 2028, and 2030, which could give Democrats five new House seats. The first bill calls for a Nov. 4 special election, the second for approving a proposed map, and the third for signing off on reimbursement for county election costs.
The move is a countermeasure by California Democrats to “neutralize” the pressure Trump has publicly put on Texas Republicans and other red states to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The California map, unveiled Friday, was drawn by congressional Democrats with input from those in the state legislature. If approved, it would turn three Republican-held seats into safe Democratic seats and turn two others into seats that lean Democratic.
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“We’re not here because we dislike independent redistricting, we’re here because Donald Trump and his Republican supporters are trying to rig the next election,” U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said. “We decided as a delegation that we could not just stand there and allow Trump to distort the next election and continue to harm the people we represent.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) slammed the effort on social media, posting that he had “instructed the [National Republican Congressional Committee] to use every measure and resource possible to fight the California Democrats’ illegal power grab.”
Johnson also called California’s redistricting effort “a partisan stunt” and a “slap in the face” to Californians who support an independent redistricting commission.
California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin echoed the statement, vowing to legally challenge the effort and arguing that voters in 2010 already voted to remove partisan influence from how maps are drawn.
“It is really a calculated power grab that dismantles the very safeguards voters put in place,” Rankin said. “This is Gavin the Gaslighter overturning the will of the voters and telling you it’s for your own good.”
Newsom has said he would not pursue a push to redraw California’s congressional districts as long as Texas Republicans ended their efforts, which is unlikely.
At stake is control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, Republicans have a seven-seat edge in the House, with four vacancies.
Trump has been able to enact his agenda, including passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, because the GOP controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. If Democrats flip the House, they could render Trump a lame duck during his last two years in office by blocking his legislation and launching congressional investigations.
On July 30, Texas state lawmakers rolled out their proposed map, which would create 30 Republican congressional seats compared to eight Democratic districts. This would be an expected five-seat boost for the GOP from its current 25-13 breakdown. In opposition, dozens of Texas House Democrats left the state to deny the GOP majority the quorum needed to vote on redrawn maps. Absent lawmakers, however, signaled they were ready to return after California moved forward with its own plan.
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Republicans are also exploring ways to add a dozen or more districts in Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and Indiana.
In response, states controlled by Democrats, including California, Illinois, and Maryland, have pledged to fight back.