California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched his campaign for a new state congressional map that would push Republicans out of five seats, describing it as a break-glass solution to stop a “rigged” election and the rise of an American dictator.
“Wake up, America,” Newsom told reporters after the first rally for the Election Rigging Response Act, the Democrats’ name for a potential Nov. 4 ballot measure that would replace the current California map, drawn by an independent commission, with a map drawn by Democrats in Sacramento. “You will not have a country if he rigs this election. You will have a president running for a third term.”
With the roll-out, Newsom officially joined a battle against Republicans in Texas, whose effort to pass their new map — with five likely GOP gains — has been slowed by Democratic legislators who fled the state. (Gov. Greg Abbott will call a new special session to handle the maps, after Democrats ran out the clock on the current session.)
He began another battle with Republicans in California, who have sued to stop or slow the ballot measure, and with the Voters First Coalition, the group that got independent redistricting passed in 2008. To win over voters who like the commission system, Newsom emphasized that it would remain in place for the 2030 census. The new, favorable Democratic maps would only cancel out anything Republicans drew for themselves in red states.
Newsom described this as an anti-fascist project, invoking the 53 days that Adolf Hitler used to consolidate power. (He numbered the days, but didn’t name Hitler.) The map, first obtained by Politico, would stretch GOP seats across the state into safely Democratic precincts, making it much harder for Rep. Darrell Issa, Rep. David Valadao, Rep. Ken Calvert, Rep. Kevin Kiley, and Rep. Doug LaMalfa to win re-election.
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