Newsom Threatens Retaliation, Says Texas Redistricting Will ‘Trigger’ New California Election Maps

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday threatened to “punch” back if Texas moves forward with GOP-led plans to redraw its congressional district maps. 

Newsom made the comments as California Democrats consider retaliatory redistricting if Texas moves to redraw its congressional boundaries. He said such a move by Texas would “trigger” a California response that would put their retaliatory proposal before voters in November. 

“They’ve triggered this response and we’re not going to roll over and we’re going to fight fire with fire, but we’re going to do so not just punching with the weight of the fourth largest economy, the most populous state in our union, the size of 21 state populations combined,” Newsom said. “We also will punch above our weight in terms of the impact of what we’re doing, and I think that should be absorbed by those in the Texas delegation. Whatever they are doing will be neutered here in the state of California, and they will pay that price.”

Newsom added that California Democrats’ plans to redraw the maps would not materialize if Texas backed off. 

“I hope they do the right thing, and if they do, then there’ll be no cause for us to have to move forward,” he said. 

More than 50 House Democrats in Texas fled the state on Sunday to block a quorum of the legislature from considering new election maps that could yield five more Republican-favorable seats. 

The fight in Texas is still developing as the state House moved forward on Monday to direct the sergeant-at-arms to track down and arrest the AWOL Democrats. The order is not enforceable outside of Texas, so it will likely have little effect, as most Democrats fled to Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott gave the Democrats until 3:00 p.m. on Monday to return to the state or face expulsion from office.

In 2010, California voters approved Proposition 20, a constitutional amendment that transferred redistricting authority to an independent commission. This means that voters would have to approve any new maps in a special election, giving the Democrats a short time to draft the maps and prepare for the November ballot.

Democrats currently control about 83% of California’s 52 congressional seats and hold a supermajority in the state legislature. In 2024, Kamala Harris won California with about 59% of the vote, and Democrat Adam Schiff won his Senate race with similar margins. 

Republicans are opposing any plans to redraw the California maps.

“While Governor Newsom frames this redistricting as a defensive move, it undermines California’s nationally respected, voter-approved Citizens Redistricting Commission, and if successful, sets a dangerous precedent that voters’ choices can be overruled whenever politicians find it politically convenient,” California GOP Chair Corrin Rankin told Fox News. “Our primary concern is safeguarding Californians’ constitutional rights against partisan manipulation disguised as defending democracy; true democracy means empowering voters, not politicians, to decide representation.”