Gavin Newsom may call special election to redraw California congressional maps

Source: The Guardian

Fri 1 Aug 2025 13.01 EDT
Last modified on Fri 1 Aug 2025 13.35 EDT


California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, may call a special election in November to begin the process of redrawing the state’s congressional maps in response to Texas’s plans to change their own maps to help Republicans keep their majority in the House of Representatives.

Donald Trump is pushing Texas and other Republican-dominated states to carry out mid-decade redistricting that will favor the GOP and potentially stop Democrats from retaking control of the House in next year’s midterm elections. Governors in Democratic-led states have responded by warning they will move to redo their own maps if Texas goes ahead with its plans, which could create an additional five Republican-leaning districts.

California is viewed as the best opportunity for Democrats to pick up seats through gerrymandering, but voters will first have to approve changes to an independent redistricting commission that was given the power to draw congressional districts in 2010. Speaking at a Thursday press conference, Newsom said “a special election would be called, likely to be the first week of November” to approve the changes.

“We will go to the people of this state in a transparent way and ask them to consider the new circumstances, to consider these new realities,” the governor added.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/01/gavin-newsom-special-election-california-redistricting