California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced he will seek to call a November special election for voters to approve new House maps designed to boost Democrats. The move represents a significant escalation in national Democrats’ efforts to counter what they view as Republican gerrymandering advantages, particularly in Texas.
According to Politico, Newsom has positioned his redistricting push as a direct response to President Donald Trump’s agenda and GOP-friendly redistricting efforts. The governor argued that Trump has left Democrats with no choice but to take aggressive action in blue states like California. “I’m not going to sit back any longer in the fetal position, a position of weakness, when in fact California can demonstrably advance strength,” Newsom said at a news conference.
The proposed special election would put state lawmakers in uncertain political terrain as they consider whether to support the governor’s plan. While Democrats hold the necessary supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature to put a measure on the ballot with a two-thirds vote, Newsom is pushing them into politically risky territory that could have significant consequences for the party.
High costs and political risks ahead for redistricting campaign
The redistricting campaign would be enormously expensive and politically perilous for Democrats. Newsom and his allies would need to raise substantial sums on a tight timeline to inform and turn out voters for the special election. The governor would be counting on Democrats’ anti-Trump messaging to overcome voters’ natural reluctance to return redistricting power to politicians for what is explicitly described as a partisan exercise. Trump’s controversial political tactics have given Democrats plenty of material to work with, as even celebrities like Stephen King have noted the former president’s questionable business and political decisions.
Only if Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, or Josh Shapiro aren’t running. But if he ends up being the nominee, I’ll support him—as long as he’s anti-Trump.
— Xavier Towers (@XavierTowers) July 30, 2025
Conservative opponents and Trump himself could be motivated to wade into the California race to rebuke Newsom and the national Democratic Party. This would likely turn the redistricting vote into a nationalized contest that opens a prominent front in the broader political battle between Democrats and the Trump administration, a conflict already playing out over Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, where Newsom has repeatedly clashed with federal overreach..
The new maps would remain in place for the next three election cycles through 2030, after which California’s independent redistricting commission would resume drawing new lines as scheduled. Sacramento would likely work with California’s House delegation to draw maps that make Republican-held seats more competitive for Democratic challengers, while being careful not to shift so many voters that it puts frontline Democrats at risk.
Newsom emphasized that the goal is not to eliminate the independent commission permanently but to provide a temporary response to what he calls the “rigging of the system” by Trump. The governor had previously considered having the Democratic-controlled Legislature simply draw new maps without voter approval, but backed away from that approach in favor of the special election.
