California voters widely prefer keeping the state’s independent redistricting commission, new polling shows, as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) threatens to bypass it to counter GOP gerrymandering in other states.
A Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey found 36 percent of California voters support returning congressional redistricting authority to the state Legislature, compared to 64 percent who back the independent redistricting commission.
Newsom has pledged to move forward with plans for redistricting in the Golden State as a direct response to Republican-led redrawing efforts elsewhere.
President Trump and others in the GOP have been urging several red states to do mid-decade redistricting and expand the party’s midterm pickup opportunities. In Texas, state Democrats fled to break quorum this month over a proposal that would net five GOP House seats.
To counter would-be Republican gains, Newsom has proposed putting forward a ballot measure that would bypass the independent redistricting commission for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 election cycles, before reverting to the existing system.
His aim is to get the matter before California voters during a special election this fall, stressing the redistricting would be triggered only if other red states move forward. The campaign is launching in earnest with a “Liberation Day” event Thursday.
“We’re going to fight fire with fire,” Newsom said, pledging to “neutralize” whatever happens in Texas.
Some experts have suggested that, despite Democrats’ advantage in the blue stronghold, Newsom may have to heavily campaign to make sure such a measure gets the support it needs, due to the popularity of the independent redistricting commission that voters approved in both 2008 and 2010.
The Politico poll question notably didn’t specify whether a return to Legislature-drawn lines would be temporary, as Newsom has stressed. But the wide support for the commission underscores why Democrats would want to make sure any plans to bypass it would have an expiration date.
The poll was taken July 28 to Aug. 12 among 1,445 California registered voters. The modeled error estimate was 2.6 percentage points.
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