California Democrats Back Newsom Plan to Redraw Congressional Maps for 2026

Democratic leaders in the California Legislature on Friday threw their support behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to bring a potential redraw of the state’s congressional districts to voters in November.

Newsom has urged lawmakers to join a national fight over congressional district lines that could help determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. The governor’s call for maps favoring Democrats appears to have won over legislators after some expressed early concerns about an accelerated push to set aside California’s current nonpartisan district boundaries.

At a press conference in Sacramento, California Democratic leaders appeared alongside legislators from Texas, who fled their home state to delay a Republican-led redistricting effort aimed at boosting the GOP.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said he anticipates a new map favoring Democrats will be released next week.

“We will not allow Trump’s Republican Party to rig this system and take permanent control of the U.S. House of Representatives,” he said. “We are prepared and we will fight fire with fire.”

Democrats are racing to approve the redistricting measure. The Legislature returns from its summer recess on Aug. 18, and the secretary of state’s office has given lawmakers an Aug. 22 deadline to place the redistricting proposal on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Additional legislation is likely needed to set up a trigger mechanism that would only call the election if Texas or other Republican-led states proceed with gerrymandered maps. Lawmakers will also take a separate vote on the new congressional lines, which Newsom said will allow voters to see the finished map they are being asked to approve.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a San José Democrat who chairs the state’s Democratic caucus in Congress, said all of California’s Democratic congressmembers back the push for new district lines. She said a redraw could net Democrats five additional seats, which would match the gains that Republicans in Texas are targeting.

Newsom first floated the idea of a Democratic gerrymander in July, after President Donald Trump encouraged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to redraw Texas maps.

Some Democrats in California initially were skeptical of scrapping the district lines drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission. Voters approved a ballot measure in 2008 creating the commission to draw state legislative district lines, and expanded its power to congressional maps with a separate measure in 2010.

Others worried about the tight timeline to place a measure before voters and the added burden on local election officials to prepare for a special election.

But in recent weeks, Democrats in the Legislature have rallied to the cause of partisan redistricting, as Trump and Republican leaders push to redraw maps across the country.

“This is not a turn-the-other-cheek moment while they continue to send blow after blow to the foundations of democracy,” Assemblymember Isaac Bryan said. “Where I’m from in Los Angeles, when they go low, we squabble up.”

California Republicans have criticized the push for new congressional lines. Rep. Kevin Kiley, a Sacramento Republican seen by many as vulnerable in a redraw, introduced a bill in Congress to block mid-decade redistricting nationwide. In a statement, Central Valley Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo said Newsom is “thumbing his nose at the voters.”

“Governor Newsom’s redistricting scheme sets a dangerous precedent that will collapse the foundational principles of democracy into a zero-sum game of power politics,” she said.

Matt Barreto, faculty director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, said even if voters approve California’s new lines, the districts will need to pass legal muster and not dilute the voting power of Black, Latino or Asian voters.

“They’re going to need to keep an eye on the Voting Rights Act in ensuring that those new districts enable minority voters, if their population is large enough, to elect their candidates of choice,” Barreto said.

But Barreto acknowledged the necessary political forces were coalescing to bring the issue before California voters in the fall.

“I think you are seeing this effort pick up a lot of momentum and a lot of willpower here in California,” he said. “So it looks like it could happen.”