California Republicans sue to stop Newsom’s redistricting push

California Republicans are urging the state’s Supreme Court to stop Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats from quickly moving forward with their push to redraw congressional districts to add up to five left-leaning seats in the heavily blue state. Four GOP state lawmakers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in California’s Supreme Court to stop the Democrat-dominated state legislature from holding a vote by the end of this week to advance the redistricting push.

“Today I joined my colleagues in filing a lawsuit challenging the rushed redistricting process. California’s Constitution requires bills to be in print for 30 days, but that safeguard was ignored. By bypassing this provision, Sacramento has effectively shut voters out of engaging in their own legislative process,” Republican state assembly member Tri Ta wrote in a social media post.

The move by the GOP lawmakers is the latest development in the high-stakes battle between Republicans and Democrats in California and in Texas over congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

In Austin, Texas, the GOP-dominated state House of Representatives on Wednesday resumed meeting amid a second straight special session called by conservative Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. As they return to work, they’re expected to pass a GOP-crafted redistricting map that would create up to five Republican-leaning congressional districts at the expense of currently Democrat-controlled seats in the red state.

“Please pass this Map, ASAP. THANK YOU TEXAS,” President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday.

The Republican push in Texas, which comes at Trump’s urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad their razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Republicans in Texas enjoy a supermajority in the legislature and the state Senate passed the new congressional maps last week, during the first special legislative session.

But Republicans in the Texas House were prevented from holding votes on the new map for two weeks, as dozens of Democratic state representatives fled the state to deny the GOP a quorum in the Texas House.

Democratic lawmakers in Texas pledge to take their fight to court after the maps are passed by the legislature and signed into law by Abbott, which is expected in the coming days.

While the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn’t face constitutional constraints, the path for Newsom and Democrats in California is much more complicated. The governor is moving to hold a special election this year, to obtain voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the non-partisan redistricting commission.

A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature would be needed to hold the referendum, and Democrats in Sacramento on Monday unveiled a bill to move forward with the referendum.

But the emergency petition filed on Tuesday by the state Republican lawmakers argues that the California Constitution prevents the legislature from acting on redistricting bills until next month, because a 30-day review period is needed for new legislation.

The lawsuit was filed as the California Assembly Elections Committee held a hearing Tuesday on the push for the referendum. GOP lawmakers on the committee and Republicans who submitted comments to the panel heavily criticized the Democrats’ redistricting effort.

The state Republican Party, which hosted the lawsuit news conference, said that “Californians voted to put redistricting in the hands of the people, not politicians. What Democrats are doing is a blatant power grab, and the California Republican Party will fight it at every opportunity to protect voters’ voices.”

“Their scheme would tear apart communities, silence public input, and erase the transparency that voters demanded when they created the Citizens Redistricting Commission,” California Republican Party chairwoman Corrin Rankin added in a statement to Fox News.

But Newsom this week argued that “California and Californians have been uniquely targeted by the Trump Administration, and we are not going to sit idle while they command Texas and other states to rig the next election to keep power — pursuing more extreme and unpopular policies.”

And last week, at an event unveiling the Democrats’ redistricting push in California, Newsom charged, “Here we are in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election and here [Trump] is once again trying to rig the system.

Newsom is considered a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, and the California GOP claimed that “Newsom is kicking off his shadow presidential campaign by trying to rig and steal California’s independent, bipartisan citizen redistricting process.”

Last week’s event by Newsom also served as a fundraising kickoff to raise massive amounts of campaign cash needed to sell the redistricting push statewide in California. The bipartisan redistricting commission, established more than 15 years ago, continues to enjoy strong support among Californians, as indicated by recent public opinion polls.

In response to this widespread popularity, Governor Newsom and Democratic lawmakers in California have pledged not to completely dismantle the commission. Instead, they are proposing to temporarily replace it with a legislative alternative for the next three election cycles. The proposed map has been put forward by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

However, prominent Republican figures, such as former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, have voiced their opposition to this move. McCarthy criticized the lack of transparency and input in the redistricting process, emphasizing the need for public involvement and debate. He is actively working to counter Newsom and the Democrats in the upcoming referendum, scheduled for this fall.

Similarly, Schwarzenegger, known for his Hollywood career and past gubernatorial role, is mobilizing against the temporary replacement of the nonpartisan redistricting commission. In a social media post, he declared his readiness for the “gerrymandering battle” and advocated for ending partisan manipulation of electoral boundaries.

During his time as governor, Schwarzenegger played a significant role in implementing constitutional amendments that transferred redistricting authority from politicians to an independent commission. His efforts to promote fair and impartial districting processes have earned him recognition as a champion of electoral integrity.

As the debate over redistricting in California intensifies, it is clear that both parties are gearing up for a contentious political showdown. The outcome of the referendum in November will determine the future of the state’s electoral landscape and the role of the nonpartisan redistricting commission.

Paul Steinhauser, a seasoned politics reporter based in New Hampshire, continues to track the developments on the campaign trail across the country. Stay tuned for more updates on this crucial issue.