California is no stranger to political drama, but the latest redistricting fight may be its most consequential in decades. On August 15, 2025, California Democrats submitted a proposed congressional map to the state legislature, a move designed to tilt the balance of power even further in their favor. The plan, if approved by voters in a November 4 special election, would give Democrats five more seats in the U.S. House—potentially reducing Republicans to just four out of the state’s 52 congressional districts. That’s less than 8 percent of California’s delegation, according to KCRA-TV and Politico. The new districts specifically target GOP-held seats: Districts 1, 3, 22, 41, and 48.
But this isn’t just a California story. It’s the latest volley in a national arms race over congressional maps, with both major parties pushing the limits of the law—and public patience—over who gets to draw the lines that shape American democracy. The stakes couldn’t be higher: control of the U.S. House of Representatives could hinge on these decisions.
The roots of this latest conflict stretch from Sacramento to Austin. Texas Republicans, emboldened by former President Donald Trump, recently unveiled their own plan to add five GOP seats to their state’s congressional delegation. The move was met with fierce resistance: Texas Democrats fled the state to block the measure, denying the GOP the quorum needed to pass the new map. As reported by the Associated Press, Democratic governors in California, Illinois, and New York—including Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul—responded in kind, pledging to redraw districts in their own states to counterbalance Republican gains.
“For everyone who’s been asking, ‘Where are the Democrats?’—well, here they are,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, one of several Democrats at risk of losing her seat under the new Texas map. The message was clear: Democrats are done playing defense.
California’s approach, however, is complicated by its own recent history. In 2008 and 2010, voters overwhelmingly approved Propositions 11 and 20, stripping redistricting authority from politicians and handing it to the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC). This reform was meant to end the practice of gerrymandering—where politicians draw districts to favor their own party—by putting an independent panel in charge. Former Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the commission, has vowed to “terminate” any attempt to return redistricting to the legislature. “Opposition is already forming,” Politico reported, “including from Arnold Schwarzenegger, the politically moderate former GOP governor who championed the voter-approved commission and has vowed to ‘terminate’ gerrymandering.”
Yet, on August 14, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a special election that would temporarily return redistricting power to the legislature for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 election cycles. The so-called Election Rigging Response Act includes a “trigger clause” that would void the measure if Texas backs away from its own redistricting plans. Newsom, never one to shy from a fight, framed the move as necessary to “stand up to Trump and his lapdogs,” according to his own social media posts.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Executive Director Julie Merz defended the new map, writing, “We strongly believe that this map serves the best interest of California voters, while also attempting to push back against the corrupt scheme occurring in Texas and other Republican-majority states where Republicans – doing the bidding of their DC party bosses – are considering adopting a clearly racially gerrymandered, partisan map at the expense of their voters. … Democrats cannot sit idly by while Texas Republicans and their DC party bosses attempt to steal congressional seats and rig the election in their favor, well before any votes have been cast. Unlike what Texas Republicans are attempting to do in letting politicians choose their own voters, we believe that voters should be able to decide who represents them.”
Republican leaders see things very differently. National Republican Campaign Committee Chair Richard Hudson blasted the plan as “an illegal power grab.” In his words: “Gavin Newsom failed to solve the homelessness, crime, drug, and cost epidemics plaguing the Golden State. Now he is shredding California’s Constitution and disenfranchising voters to prop up his Presidential ambitions. The NRCC is prepared to fight this illegal power grab in the courts and at the ballot box to stop Newsom in his tracks.” Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, himself a Californian, is leading a Republican campaign to oppose the redraw.
Even among Democrats, the move is not without controversy. The state’s own Supreme Court has interpreted the California Constitution to prohibit so-called mid-decade redistricting—redrawing congressional lines between the ten-year census cycles. Texas, by contrast, allows such changes under its constitution. And a fresh POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab poll released August 14 found that “strong majorities in both parties prefer an independent panel draw the House district lines.” In fact, respondents favored keeping the ICRC in charge by nearly a two-to-one margin, with only 36 percent supporting a return to legislative control. Pollster Jack Citrin noted, “California has voted twice for this independent review commission not all that long ago. And there’s a lot of mistrust and cynicism about politicians and the Legislature. That’s reflected here as well.”
Despite these headwinds, the Democratic supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature are expected to approve the measure before the August 22 deadline. If passed, the ultimate decision will rest with voters in November. But the outcome is anything but certain. California may be deep-blue, but Trump still won nearly 40 percent of its voters in 2024. The fight over redistricting is likely to mobilize both sides, with national fundraising, media campaigns, and rallies already underway. On August 16, Democrats held demonstrations across the country, signaling their newfound willingness to “do whatever it takes,” as former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke put it at a recent rally: “Maximize Democratic Party advantage. You may say to yourself, ‘Well, those aren’t the rules.’ There are no refs in this game. F— the rules. … Whatever it takes.”
The shift in Democratic strategy is notable. According to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about 15 percent of Democrats’ own voters describe the party as weak or apathetic, with another 10 percent calling it ineffective or disorganized. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin acknowledged the change, saying, “This is not the Democratic Party of your grandfather, which would bring a pencil to a knife fight.” Maurice Mitchell, who leads the Working Families Party, said Democrats are “taking real risks in protecting all of our rights” against “an authoritarian president who only understands the fight.”
Yet, there are voices warning against abandoning principles for short-term gain. Andrew O’Neill, an executive at the progressive group Indivisible, recalled past moments when Democrats chose process over power—and lost. Still, many Democratic lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, argue that short-term power plays are necessary to pass future reforms banning gerrymandering and big money in politics.
Ultimately, the outcome in California could set a national precedent. The November vote will test whether voters prefer independent commissions or are willing to let politicians draw the lines once more in the name of fighting fire with fire. As U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson of Texas put it, “If you don’t do politics, politics will do you.”
With passions running high and both sides digging in, California’s redistricting battle promises to be a defining moment in the fight for control of Congress—and perhaps, the future of American democracy itself.