California Governor Gavin Newsom has sent a direct warning to President Donald Trump about the ongoing redistricting battle across the country. The Democratic governor wrote a letter to Trump on Monday morning demanding that he call off Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in red states. This comes as Texas Republicans are pushing forward with plans to change their state’s voting districts to help the GOP gain more seats in Congress.
The redistricting fight started when President Trump pushed Texas Republicans to redraw their congressional districts. The goal is to help Republicans keep their narrow control of the US House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections. Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’s 38 House seats, and the new maps could help them pick up five more seats as part of Trump’s broader strategy to maintain political control despite facing multiple challenges.
In his letter, Newsom told Trump that he has 24 hours to respond and warned that California would take action if Trump does not “stand down.” The governor said California would be forced to redraw its own maps to counter what Republicans are doing in red states. Newsom wrote that Trump is “playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy” and called the Republican efforts “an affront to American democracy.”
Texas Democrats flee state to block Republican plans
More than 50 Texas House Democrats have left their state to stop the Republican redistricting plan from moving forward. By leaving Texas, these lawmakers are denying Republicans the number of people needed to hold votes in the state legislature. This tactic, called breaking quorum, has put the redistricting effort on hold for more than a week.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has responded by threatening to arrest the Democratic lawmakers who fled the state. Abbott has also asked the Texas Supreme Court to remove some Democrats from office. He said the redistricting fight “could literally last years” and warned that Democrats would have to stay outside Texas for that long to avoid arrest. The Texas House has even stopped direct deposit payments for absent lawmakers, forcing them to pick up their paychecks in person in Austin.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 11, 2025
Meanwhile, California is preparing its own redistricting response. Newsom announced plans for a special election in November where California voters would decide whether to temporarily change how the state draws its congressional maps. Currently, California uses an independent commission to draw district lines, but Newsom wants to give that power back to the state legislature temporarily. The California plan could create as many as five new Democratic seats in Congress, which would offset any gains Republicans make in Texas.
The redistricting battle has national implications because Democrats only need to gain three House seats to win back control of Congress in 2026. This would allow Democrats to block Trump’s legislative agenda, which has already faced significant setbacks in other areas and potentially open new investigations into his administration. The current fight represents a rare mid-decade redistricting effort, as states typically only redraw their congressional maps once every ten years after the US Census.
