Redistricting 'Trigger' Would Go Before CA Voters To Counter TX Gerrymander, Newsom Says

In the battle for control of the House, California will go tit-for-tat with Texas if Lone Star Republicans move forward with plans to conduct a rare mid-decade gerrymandering effort to create more G.O.P seats, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.

Newsom said California Democrats are drafting a rare redistricting plan that could go before voters on Nov. 4 — but only if Texas proceeds with its own proposed congressional map changes.

Redistricting usually happens after the once-a-decade population count by the U.S. Census Bureau or in response to a court ruling. But Texas Republicans want to break that tradition to gain an edge in the 2026 midterms — and other states like California could follow suit.

Golden State lawmakers said they will devise a “trigger," meaning the redistricting measure would only appear on the November ballot if Texas moves forward with redrawing its congressional lines to gain five additional GOP seats.

“It’s cause and effect, triggered on the basis of what occurs or doesn’t occur in Texas,” Newsom said. “I hope they do the right thing, and if they do, then there’ll be no cause for us to have to move forward.”

Nothing will be decided until state lawmakers return from recess to Sacramento on Aug. 18. That leaves the legislature under a month to draft a bill calling for a special election in November and to draft a new map, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“I think there’s a growing recognition in this country, not just with Democrats, independents, but also Republicans, that de facto the Trump presidency ends in November of next year if the American people are given a fair chance and a voice and a choice. We’ll take back Congress,” Newsom said last week, according to the Los Angeles Times. “The President of the United States recognizes that, so he wants to rig the game, wants to change the rules midterm.”

The announcement follows Newsom's recent suggestion that he might call a special election to redraw California’s congressional maps — an idea he said was inspired by former President Donald Trump’s push for Republicans to gain an edge through redistricting or "gerrymandering."

Dueling redistricting efforts in Texas and California could shape control of the House after the 2026 midterms, with Democrats warning that a GOP-friendly map in Texas — pushed by Trump — could send five more Republicans to Washington and make it harder to counter his agenda.

Currently, Democrats have 43 of the Golden State's 52 congressional seats. By redrawing the lines, it could flip some red districts blue, creating more competitive races for the state's nine Republican members.

A Democratic push to gerrymander in the Golden State as a counterresponse to gerrymandering in Texas remains controversial.

A spokesperson for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the state's last Republican leader would fight such an effort Monday.

“He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people,” Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell told Politico. “He’s opposed to what Texas is doing, and he’s opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing.”

In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts should not get involved in debates over political gerrymandering — the practice of drawing districts for partisan gain. In that decision, Chief Justice John Roberts said redistricting is “ highly partisan by any measure.”

But courts may demand new maps if they believe the congressional boundaries dilute the votes of a racial minority group, in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

“There’s been a lot more efforts by the parties and political actors to push the boundaries – literally and figuratively – to reconfigure what the game is,” said Doug Spencer, Rothgerber Jr. Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of Colorado.

It remains to be seen whether Texas legislators will be able to pass the new maps after Democratic lawmakers fled the state in defiance of the effort. Texas Republicans then voted 85 to 6 to send state troopers to arrest them and bring them back to the Capitol. Though no actual criminal charges would be brought.

Lawmakers physically outside Texas are beyond the jurisdiction of state authorities.

“If you continue to go down this road, there will be consequences," House Speaker Rep. Dustin Burrows said from the chamber floor, later telling reporters that included fines.

Other states are waiting to see what Texas does and whether to follow suit.

The rules of redistricting can be vague and variable; each state has its own set of rules and procedures. Politicians are gauging what voters will tolerate when it comes to politically motivated mapmaking.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appeared with Texas Democrats and argued that their cause should be national.

“We’re not going to tolerate our democracy being stolen in a modern-day stagecoach heist by a bunch of law breaking cowboys,” Hochul said Monday, flanked by several of the lawmakers who left Texas. “If Republicans are willing to rewrite rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us with no choice: We must do the same. You have to fight fire with fire.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender and outspoken Trump critic, welcomed Texas Democrats to Chicago on Sunday after having been in quiet talks with them for weeks. Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another potential 2028 contender, held public events about the Texas fight before the quorum break.

“This is not just rigging the system in Texas,” Pritzker said Sunday night. “It’s about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.