After hours of tense debate, California lawmakers on Thursday greenlit a special election on redistricting this November, sending a politically gerrymandered map to voters over Republican criticisms that the plan is unconstitutional, hypocritical and lacks transparency.
The three-bill package reached the necessary two-thirds majority in both chambers, meaning Californians will vote in a Nov. 4 election on a new congressional map intended to turn at least five solidly red districts blue.
The vote marked a return volley by Democrats in a national redistricting war the day after Texas lawmakers approved a new congressional map, at the behest of President Donald Trump, to give Republicans an edge in five Lone Star State districts.
“The only reason we are here today is because of Texas,” said Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Santa Rosa. “What we cannot support in California is unilateral disarmament when the fairness of the 2026 elections is being threatened, and yes, Donald Trump wants to rig the damn election.”
On both the Senate and Assembly floors Thursday, Republican lawmakers tried to delay the vote by motioning to send the bills back to committees for further study and cost analyses — proposals that were overruled by the Democratic supermajority.
Republicans also claimed the new map and a special election violate the state Constitution and that maps were drawn behind closed doors without transparency, complaints they’ve repeated throughout the week.
Many said the state should not, even temporarily, abandon the California Citizens Redistricting Committee, approved by voters in 2008, and called for the Democrats in Congress to support a national effort to force all states to develop a similar independent commission for drawing maps.
“I don’t ever want to be lectured ever again by Democrats anywhere that their party is the party of democracy,” the normally composed Assemblymember Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, seethed. “What you’re doing … is showing you are no better.”
Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, called the new map a “Gavinmander” — a play on the term inspired by Elbridge Gerry, a 19th century Massachusetts governor who approved a political map with a district shaped like a dragon-like mythological salamander.
He also criticized a key argument Newsom and Democrats use in favor of the map.
“We move forward fighting fire with fire, what happens? You burn it all down. And in this case, it affects our most fundamental American principle: representation. Wasn’t that the battle cry of our founding forebearers? ‘No taxation without representation.’”
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bills shortly after the vote Thursday. Republicans have also promised to file legal challenges, though the California Supreme Court declined to intervene Wednesday night in an emergency request from the GOP to block the bills.
The debate reaches a crescendo
The redistricting debate has dominated lawmakers’ first week back in the Legislature after their summer break but has been simmering for over a month, ever since the Texas Legislature signaled it would redraw its maps to benefit Republicans in response to pressure from the Trump administration.
Newsom quickly jumped on the issue and said in July that California could follow suit to tilt several districts to favor Democrats if Texas approved a new map.
Leaders in New York, Indiana, Ohio, Florida and other states have all signaled a willingness to enlist in the redistricting fight. On Wednesday, Newsom encouraged other Democrat-run states to join in and “play hardball” with Donald Trump.
For his part, the president posted on Truth Social Wednesday night celebrating the new Texas map as a ‘Big WIN,’ and encouraging the initial moves of Florida and Indiana.
“Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself,” he wrote.
The California Capitol was a focal point of the debate Thursday, as lawmakers approved two bills and one constitutional amendment. Those included Senate Bill 280, from state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, calling for a special election, Assembly Bill 604, from Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, and state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, approving the proposed map, and Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8, from Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, suspending the state’s independent redistricting committee until 2030.
Lawmakers had a tight deadline to decide whether or not to call a special election. The Secretary of State’s office said set a deadline for Friday, Aug. 22. County elections officials across the state have prepared for weeks to be ready for the possibility of an election, which is estimated to cost over $200 million.
Fireworks fly in the California Capitol
In the Assembly, the five-hour debate repeatedly devolved into shouting, mic-cutting and personal attacks.
The fighting was mostly along partisan lines. Just one Democrat voted against the measures: Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains of Bakersfield, a moderate who is seeking to oust incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao from his Central Valley seat. Democrat Alex Lee, D-San Jose, abstained from voting for all three pieces of legislation.
Democratic lawmakers said they vigorously oppose partisan gerrymandering but felt they had no other choice to counteract it in Republican-led states.
“We don’t want this fight and we didn’t choose this fight, but with our democracy on the line, we cannot and will not run away from this fight,” said Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park. “The Election Rigging Response Act is our response to these undemocratic and un-American power grabs.”
Republican lawmakers excoriated members of the majority party for advancing the plan and questioned the motivations of Newsom, who is widely expected to run for president in 2028.
“We all know this is going to fail on the ballot. This is a loser from the beginning,” said Senate Republican Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee. “What’s the only gain? I’ll tell you. Governor Gavin Newsom is getting more headlines.”
At one point, Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, asked permission to use a prop during his remarks but was denied and told items weren’t allowed in Thursday’s debate.
“Then why have you become props to Governor Gavin Newsom’s presidential campaign?” he said to approving murmurs from his colleagues. DeMaio later held up the proposed map anyway, which he called “the murder weapon of democracy.”
Los Angeles Assemblymember Isaac Bryan turned Republicans’ hypocrisy charge around, pointing to bills he authored to require independent redistricting commissions in local government apportionment.
“Every Republican in this House voted against it,” he said. “How convenient to switch your tone when you are on the line.”
Republicans in both houses invited lawmakers to prove they had no skin in the game by approving amendments that would disallow them from running for U.S. Congress in the next ten years, which Democrats shot down.
Democrats have declined to say publicly who ordered the map to be drawn and dodged questions about when they first saw it. The new proposed districts were drafted by Paul Mitchell, who owns the firm Redistricting Partners and has close ties to Democrats.
The districts, which leaked hours ahead of their official release last week, were drafted to draw more liberal voters into five districts currently held by Republican Reps. David Valadao, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert, Kevin Kiley and Doug LaMalfa.
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