California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, on Thursday signed a redistricting plan and declared a special election to ask voters to change the boundaries of five Republican-held congressional districts in the state.
The legislative manoeuvre is part of a national battle for control of the US House of Representatives, and comes as a direct response to developments in Texas.
At the urging of Donald Trump, lawmakers in the Lone Star state this week approved a new congressional map that aims to give Republicans five more US House seats.
The changes to the district boundaries in California could create five new Democratic US House seats, which state Democrats hope will balance the scales.
“Today was more than drawing lines on a map. It was about drawing a line in the sand to stop Texas, to stop Donald Trump from rigging this election,” said Mike McGuire, California’s senate president pro tempore, after lawmakers approved the package.
Here’s what you need to know about what’s next:
What happened on Thursday?
The state’s assembly and senate passed three pieces of legislation that comprise the Election Rigging Response Act. The package sets the stage for a 4 November special election.
The bills are: assembly constitutional amendment eight, which allows for the election; assembly bill 604, which finalizes Newsom’s proposed maps; and senate bill 280, providing funding for the election.
What do the bills do?
In the election, Newsom and Democratic leaders will ask voters to temporarily give them the power to redraw California’s congressional districts. California voters in 2010 gave the power to draw congressional maps to an independent commission, with the goal of making the process less partisan. The commission last redrew maps following the 2020 census, and the maps were in place for the 2022 and 2024 US House elections.
Newsom and Democratic leaders are asking voters to approve their new maps only for the next few elections. They say they will return map-drawing power to the commission following the 2030 census.
What happens now?
With Newsom’s proposed map and November election approved – largely along party lines – Newsom and the state’s Democratic leader will shift into campaign mode, the governor told reporters.
The goal of putting the issue to voters, he added, was to allow Californians to “have the opportunity to determine their fate”, Newsom told reporters during a post-vote press conference.
“You can’t win by playing by the traditional set of rules. [Donald Trump] plays by no rules … and we’re responding to that,” he continued.
Since announcing his redistricting plan, the campaign has raised over $6m, Newsom’s team confirmed.
Will voters approve it?
A recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, conducted for the Los Angeles Times, found 46% of respondents agreed Newsom’s redistricting plans were a good idea, while 36% said it was a bad idea.
Forty-eight per cent said they would vote in favor of the plan if it appeared on the ballot.
The efforts have gained prominent support. This week, Barack Obama called Newsom’s plans “a responsible approach” in response to the manoeuvres by Texas and other Republican states. Kamala Harris has said she is “proud” of the efforts. Rick Caruso, the Los Angeles-based billionaire (who has bounced between the Republican and Democratic parties) who unsuccessfully ran for Los Angeles mayor in 2024 and has been a vocal critic of the state’s Democratic leadership, says that he will also donate to and support the redistricting effort, Julia Wick of the LA Times reported.
Among the most vocal voices in the no-camp is the former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who spearheaded the creation of the independent commission. “I’m not going to go back on my promise,” Schwarzenegger told the New York Times last week. “We are not going to go into a stinking contest with a skunk. We are moving forward.”
