California Democrats Create Safe House Seats
By Richard C. Gross
“We cannot wage this war in a defensive spirit.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965), British prime minister
California Democrats unveiled a congressional map Friday that secures five safe House seats, a direct counter to Texas Republicans’ plan to cement their own advantage. The move sets the stage for a bitter national redistricting battle.
The fight began weeks ago when former President Trump demanded Texas redraw its districts to lock in Republican control for the 2026 and 2028 elections.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, leading the Democratic charge, called the plan a necessary offense to “fight fire with fire.”
On Monday, Democrats will introduce measures in the legislature to hold a special Nov. 4 election seeking voter approval of the new map. Crucially, the map would only take effect if Republican-controlled states proceed with their partisan redraws.
“We anticipate these maps will completely neuter and neutralize what is happening in Texas,” Newsom told The Washington Post. “There’s still an exit ramp,” he added, underscoring that California’s changes depend on GOP moves elsewhere.
Texas Democrats, who fled their state to block creating five new GOP districts, are expected to return next week. Republicans in Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri are eyeing similar redistricting efforts. Democrats in Illinois, Maryland, and Oregon are weighing their own partisan countermeasures.
This all clashes with California’s voter-approved reforms. In 2008 and 2010, at the urging of then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Californians passed ballot measures creating an independent redistricting commission of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four independents.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is now expected to fight Newsom’s measure. He even posted a gym photo online, wearing a black T-shirt reading: “F--- the Politicians. Terminate Gerrymandering.”
At a rally in Los Angeles Thursday launching his campaign, Newsom pressed voters to back the plan:
“On Nov. 4 in California you have the power to stand up to Trump. You have the power to declare that you support a system that is not rigged.” His fiery tone suggested a test run for a possible 2028 presidential campaign.
California, the nation’s most populous state with 40 million people, faces off against Texas, a red stronghold of 32 million. With Republicans holding a slim majority in the House, five Democratic seats could tip the balance—if Texas follows Trump’s lead.
But even then, the changes would be temporary, lasting only until the next census-driven redistricting in 2030. Newsom’s gamble still requires legislative approval.
Never one to avoid a fight with Trump, Newsom blasted him at the rally, calling the former president “a failed president . . . weak . . . the most unpopular president in modern history.” He claimed Border Patrol agents showed up at the Los Angeles event.
“This is just completely unacceptable,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “This is a Customs and Border Patrol that has gone amok. This absolutely has to stop. There was no danger here.”
Traditionally, congressional maps are redrawn only after the decennial census, under the Supreme Court’s 1964 “one person, one vote” principle. But Newsom argues this is no ordinary time.
On social media, he mocked Trump for pushing redistricting out of fear Republicans might lose the midterms—even though Trump’s party currently controls both chambers of Congress.
Democrats must win at least one chamber to stop Trump’s day-by-day chaotic agenda to take over the country as a dictator.
The courts won’t save them. Trump racks up victories at the appellate level and the Supreme Court is dominated by a 6–3 conservative majority. It has backed Trump on major issues, most notably giving him immunity from prosecution on official acts.
“Trump doesn’t believe in the rules,” Newsom declared. “We can’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear, district by district. We need to be firm in our resolve. We need to push back.”
Calling it a “break the glass moment for our democracy,” Newsom was running a risk: Republicans will accuse him of rigging elections. His defense is that California’s move is explicitly temporary and only a direct counter to Trump.
Already, Rep. Kevin Riley, a California Republican whose district was redrawn to favor Democrats, has introduced a bill in Congress to ban mid-decade redistricting.
“Where does this end?” he asked. “It will make a farce of representative government if district lines are disappearing like quicksand at every opportunity.”
Riley should try telling that to Trump.
Yes, mid-decade redistricting is far from ideal in a democracy. But when the president himself undermines democratic norms, Democrats may have no choice but to fight back—or risk losing the republic itself.
Richard C. Gross, who covered war and peace in Israel and reported from the Pentagon, was foreign editor of United Press International and a member of the editorial board and opinion page editor of The Baltimore Sun.