California state lawmakers have commenced action on redrawn political maps aimed at giving Democrats five more seats in the US Congress, countering the partisan advantage President Donald Trump hopes to gain from a Republican redistricting plan in Texas.
California Democrats, led by Governor Gavin Newsom, are pushing for fast-track passage of their redistricting effort in the Sacramento statehouse by Friday, just in time to place it on the ballot for a special election on November 4.
Newsom, who enjoys a Democratic super-majority in both houses of the state legislature, ultimately seeks voter support for his plan. If it succeeds, it would neutralise a Trump-backed Texas bill designed to flip five Democratic seats to Republican control in the US House of Representatives.
Republicans, including Trump, have openly acknowledged that the Texas effort is about boosting their political clout by helping to preserve the party’s slim House majority in the November 2026 midterm races. That election already is shaping up as closely fought.
Democrats have characterised their bid to depart from the state’s usual independent, bipartisan redistricting process – adopted by voters in 2008 – as a temporary “emergency” strategy to combat what they see as extreme Republican moves to unfairly rig the system.
“The decks are stacked against us, so what we need to do is fight back,” California Senator Lena Gonzalez, a joint author of the redistricting plan, said as the state Senate opened floor debate on the bill.
Democrats say more than 70 percent of their newly drawn congressional districts were adopted from maps used by the independent commission in formulating the current boundaries.
Republican Senator Tony Strickland objected, saying, “These maps were drawn behind closed doors.”
In the lower house of the legislature, known as the Assembly, Republicans sought to block consideration of another component of the package on procedural grounds but were overruled by the Democratic leadership. That proposal would amend the state constitution, temporarily bypassing the bipartisan commission.
Unlike the California initiative, the newly drawn district lines in Texas would go into effect without voter approval, though Democrats have promised to challenge the plan in court.
The Texas measure cleared a major hurdle on Wednesday when the state House of Representatives in Austin adopted it on an 88-52 party-line vote. The Texas Senate is expected to pass the measure next, possibly on Thursday. The two versions of the bill may then need to be reconciled before the legislation goes to Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has said he will sign it.
“Big WIN for the Great State of Texas,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Democrats and civil rights groups say the new Texas map further dilutes the voting power of Hispanic and Black voters, violating federal law that forbids redrawing political lines on the basis of racial or ethnic discrimination.
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