California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to “fight fire with fire” in response to moves in Texas to redraw the electoral map to favor Republicans.
Newsom was speaking as Greg Abbott, his Lone Star State counterpart, ordered the arrest of the 51 state Democratic lawmakers who have left Texas to prevent its House of Representatives voting through the redistricting proposals advantageous to the GOP by denying it a quorum.
Speaking of the possibility of the Sunshine State engaging in its own retaliatory redistricting push to weaken Republican-leaning districts, Newsom said: “The proposal that we’re advancing with the legislature has a trigger only if they move forward, to dismantling the protocols that are well-established.
“Would the state of California move forward in kind? Fighting? Yes, fire with fire.”
He acknowledged, however, that going ahead with such a step would have to be done within the law, commenting: “That process has to have the concurrence, the support of two-thirds of the legislature.
“The maps, we believe, should be transparent. They should be provided in a transparent way to the public, and as a consequence, those maps are being processed and will be brought to light.”
He also said that California citizens should be given a chance to have their say: “We will offer them the opportunity to make judgments for themselves, again, only if Texas moves forward.
“I’ll reinforce that we believe it should be a national model, independent national redistricting, and it would revert back to its original form, but it’s done in response to the existential realities that we’re now facing.
“Things have changed, facts have changed, so we must change.”
Newsom continued: “They’ve triggered this response and we’re not going to roll over and we’re going to fight fire with fire, but we’re going to do so not just punching with the weight of the fourth largest economy, the most populous state in our union, the size of 21 state populations combined.
“We also will punch above our weight in terms of the impact of what we’re doing, and I think that should be absorbed by those in the Texas delegation. Whatever they are doing will be neutered here in the state of California, and they will pay that price.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have likewise indicated they could be prepared to act in kind if Texas proceeds with its gerrymandering manoeuvre.
The desperate measures taken by the Texas Democrats to block the redistricting – which saw them jet out for New York, New Jersey and Illinois on Sunday to stop a vote going ahead – came after the Texas House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting advanced the GOP’s proposals on Saturday.
Republicans hold a majority in the Texas House of Representatives, as they do in its Senate, meaning the bid to revise the state’s 38 congressional districts would likely pass both chambers and be signed off by Gov. Abbott.
Doing so would create five extra right-leaning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., potentially expanding the congressional GOP’s majority and easing the passage of President Donald Trump’s future legislative agenda.
Faced with that likelihood, the Democrats left town, preventing the 150-seat House being able to hold the vote, which requires at least two-thirds of representatives to be present before it can grind into action.
Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu led the exodus and has the support of the Democratic National Committee but he and his colleagues look set to be fined $500 for every day they are absent from the legislature and now face arrest under Abbott’s orders after failing to return to Austin in time for a 3pm deadline set by Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
