California Gov. Gavin Newsom says his state may retaliate if Texas redraws its congressional district maps in a way that benefits the Republican Party. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has added redistricting to the agenda for a special legislative session set to begin next week. In response, Newsom suggested California may rethink its own approach.
Newsom: ‘They’re not playing fair’
In an interview with The Tennessee Holler, Newsom accused Republicans of operating by a “totally different set of rules” and hinted that California could “gerrymander like no other state” if it wanted to.
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“Years and years ago, we did independent redistricting in a state that, I assure you, with two-thirds majorities in the Legislature, could gerrymander like no other state,” Newsom said. “And we’ve been playing fair. But when I saw what [Abbott] did today, it made me question the entire program.”
Texas and California take different approaches
Texas and California use fundamentally different systems to redraw their congressional maps.
In Texas, redistricting is handled by the state Legislature, which redraws lines and votes to approve new maps.
In California, a 14-member independent citizen commission — made up of Democrats, Republicans and Independents who have never held elected office — is responsible for the process.
What redistricting and gerrymandering mean
Redistricting is required every 10 years following the U.S. Census to ensure each district has a roughly equal population.
In Texas, however, Gov. Abbott is calling for new maps ahead of schedule, following several lawsuits that alleged the current district lines drawn after 2020 discriminate against Black and Latino voters.
There’s widespread scrutiny of states that allow lawmakers to control the map-drawing process, especially over concerns about gerrymandering — the manipulation of district boundaries to favor one political party.
With Republicans in control of the Texas Legislature, Newsom argues that the upcoming redistricting could tilt even further toward the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Although partisan gerrymandering continues to draw criticism from both sides of the aisle, the practice has not been ruled unconstitutional.
Trump weighs in
President Trump has also weighed in on the state’s redistricting plans. According to an X post from The Washington Post reporter Patrick Svitek, Trump said he believes Republicans could gain five additional congressional seats with “just a very simple redrawing” of the state’s district maps. He also suggested other states could follow suit.
His comments have drawn further attention to the political stakes — and the potential power shift — of the redistricting process.
