Following their departure from Texas, several state Democrats addressed the media after meeting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The biggest announcement came from Newsom, who announced his plans for a special election to redistrict this state.
Redistricting California
Newsom once again called for a special election in his state to redistrict and gain more seats in the U.S. House for the Democratic Party. He wants the election in the first week of November.
“It will coincide with many other municipal elections,” Newsom said. “We will raise an unprecedented amount of attention, and we will garner an unprecedented amount of support because people understand what’s at stake.”
California uses an independent commission to redistrict, and it has been extremely successful, with no lawsuits challenging them filed after the last maps were drawn. Newsom said they are proud of that commission and not doing away with it, but he feels the state needs to rise to this moment.
“We tried to play by a higher set of standards and rules with our independent redistricting,” Newsom said. “And we believe in that, and we are not talking about eliminating that commission. We are talking about emergency measures to respond to what’s happening in Texas, and we will nullify what happens in Texas.”
Newsom also made sure to highlight what he said is the biggest difference between California’s attempt to do this and Texas’.
“We’re doing it in a fully transparent way, and we’re doing it by asking the people of the state of California for their consent and support,” Newsom said. “Mark that stark contrast to what’s happening in Texas.”
Chair of the California Democratic congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, said all California Democrats are willing to support the plan.
“We cannot stand here and just shrug as Trump and the Republicans try and rig the rules so they can avoid responsibility for the damage that they have done to this country,” Lofgren said. “We need a break on them, and we can get it in the midterm elections.”
While they have the support in the state legislature, what’s unclear is whether they have the necessary votes of Californians.
Redistricting Texas
This all began with President Donald Trump calling on Texas to redistrict to get Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House. Texas Democrats fled the state to prevent the state legislature from having the necessary number of members to hold a vote.
Newsom, Pelosi and other California Democrats expressed how proud they are of their colleagues in Texas.
“We thank you, not only for your courage, but for your patriotism,” Pelosi said. “I’m from Maryland originally, and I’m very proud that the national anthem was written there. And my favorite line in the anthem is ‘proof through the night that our flag was still there.’ We have a responsibility to prove through the night of this Trump administration, the darkness of it all, that our flag is still there with liberty and justice for all, and that is what I’m so proud of.”
Each California Democrat who spoke voiced their displeasure with the redistricting effort in Texas, invoking quotes from former first lady Michelle Obama to rapper Kendrick Lamar in their response.
“We are meeting this moment because this is not a turn the other cheek moment,” said Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-San Joaquin Valley. “While they continue to send blow after blow to the foundations of democracy, where I’m from, in Los Angeles, when they go low, we squabble up.”
The Texas Democrats in attendance continued to share their message that they are not running from anything but rather running to the front lines of an ongoing fight.
“This is about ensuring that the voters get to determine the outcome of their next election,” said state Rep.Ann Johnson, D-Houston. “We are now facing threats, the threat that we’re going to lose our jobs, the threat of financial ruin, the threat that we be hunted down, as our colleagues sit on their hands and remain silent as we all get personal threats to our lives.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas GOP lawmakers have tried different tactics to get the Texas Democrats back to their state to have enough lawmakers to hold a vote. That includes replacing the ones who’ve fled the state.
Texas Rep. Gene Wu called that effort “meaningless,” according to NPR.
Meanwhile, the FBI answered a letter from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to help find and arrest the Democrats who left the state.
