{"id":1381,"date":"2025-08-14T18:47:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T18:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1381"},"modified":"2025-08-14T18:47:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T18:47:21","slug":"newsoms-california-redistricting-push-sets-up-a-standoff-with-republican-led-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1381","title":{"rendered":"Newsom\u2019s California redistricting push sets up a standoff with Republican-led opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As California Democrats prepare to try to redraw the state\u2019s congressional maps in response to a\u00a0Republican-led effort in Texas, a patchwork coalition is forming to stop them.<\/p>\n<p>It includes former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a longtime advocate of nonpartisan redistricting; Charles Munger Jr., the son of the late billionaire Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman; various state and federal California Republicans; and the League of Women Voters. All have come out against the effort driven by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who argues Texas\u2019 move to deliver as many as five more GOP-friendly seats\u00a0requires a proportional response.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott plans to call another special session for Republicans to enact their maps as soon as enough Democrats return, Newsom and legislative leaders will need to put any new maps up for a statewide referendum in November. The legislature returns Monday to consider a measure that must pass both chambers with two-thirds of the vote to make the November ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Newsom, who has scheduled a Thursday 11:30 a.m. PDT (2:30 p.m. EDT) press conference on redistricting, has expressed confidence that voters will side with him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to fight fire with fire,\u201d he said on a Wednesday episode of his podcast. \u201cWe\u2019re going to neutralize whatever Abbott does next week or whenever they move forward the next special session.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, success is not a foregone conclusion, particularly in an off-year referendum that\u2019s likely to have lower turnout than a midterm or presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>Opponents argue that they have a broad coalition that includes Democratic voters. More than 60% of voters in the state approved Proposition 20, the 2010 initiative that took control of congressional maps from the state legislature.<\/p>\n<p>Munger, who spent $12.4 million to pass Proposition 20, said he will \u201cvigorously defend the reforms he helped pass,\u201d spokesperson Amy Thoma Tan said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis previous success in passing ballot measures in California means he knows exactly what is needed to be successful,\u201d Thoma Tan said. \u201cWe will have the resources necessary to make our coalition heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-lightbox\" data-lightbox-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/896ZxbHKes69GdmwAqGSTA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE5MjA7aD0xMDgwO2NmPXdlYnA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/200bd02e59efa98ad70cd6740be1a05f\"><span class=\"caas-img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview caas-loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/XwxCXjVEOBWWHsVc29pMTw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/200bd02e59efa98ad70cd6740be1a05f\" alt=\"People vote in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, in November 2010, when California passed Proposition 20. - Kevork Djansezian\/Getty Images\/File\" data-caas-lazy-loading-init=\"1\" \/><button class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp caas-lightbox\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;elm:expand;itc:1\" data-rapid_p=\"12\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\" data-id=\"m-1\">People vote in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, in November 2010, when California passed Proposition 20. &#8211; Kevork Djansezian\/Getty Images\/File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Common Cause reverses itself<\/h3>\n<p>But opponents have already lost one ally this time around.<\/p>\n<p>Common Cause, one of the key good government groups backing redistricting reform, said Tuesday it would not \u201cautomatically condemn\u201d mid-cycle redistricting efforts that meet certain criteria, a move that could lead to the organization holding its fire against the California countermeasure.<\/p>\n<p>In a call with reporters Wednesday, Common Cause officials characterized the announcement as a \u201cshift in our strategic posture,\u201d not a move to abandon its long-term opposition to gerrymandering. The organization said it was too soon to say whether California will meet its six \u201cfairness criteria,\u201d which include that mid-cycle redistricting efforts should be targeted responses to gerrymandering in other states, have a set end date and involve some form of public participation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernor Newsom will be held to the same standards and criteria as any other state who tries to engage,\u201d Common Cause president Virginia Kase Solom\u00f3n said Wednesday, adding that it would be \u201cvery hard to react\u201d to California\u2019s plan before it has been released.<\/p>\n<p>The national group\u2019s new stance comes after the state chapter said last month that Newsom was \u201cwrong\u201d on redistricting and urged him not to \u201cpick a fight that honestly, his political party cannot and will not win.\u201d National officials said the state organizations are now on board.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur California Common Cause team understands,\u201d Kase Solom\u00f3n said. \u201cWe had deep discussion around why we needed to make this decision. They were engaged in the decision. Their advisory board was engaged in the decision. And so we are all on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The League of Women Voters, however, will continue to push back on the governor\u2019s proposal. The group\u2019s California chapter wrote Newsom and top Democratic leaders in the legislature Wednesday morning to \u201cexpress our strong opposition\u201d to the mid-cycle redistricting push. The group argued that even temporarily overriding the current maps would do long-term damage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand the urgency. Authoritarianism is not abstract; it is here, and it is dangerous. President Trump has created a constitutional crisis on multiple fronts \u2013 assaults to democracy that the League is at the vanguard of fighting,\u201d wrote Dora Rose, the deputy director of the League of Women Voters of California. \u201cBut the way to fight is not to abandon one of California\u2019s greatest democratic reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-lightbox\" data-lightbox-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/K8LxxED9Iguw2JXyhJ8ewg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE5MjA7aD0xMDgwO2NmPXdlYnA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/23995d3a7ce4e4a09aae2ab981821c3c\"><span class=\"caas-img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview caas-loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/_y0hjkfSSTNUx9imrrh7Ig--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/23995d3a7ce4e4a09aae2ab981821c3c\" alt=\"Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens, at George Washington's Mount Vernon in in Alexandria, Virginia, on July 4. - Rod Lamkey\/AP\/File\" data-caas-lazy-loading-init=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\" data-id=\"m-2\">Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens, at George Washington&#8217;s Mount Vernon in in Alexandria, Virginia, on July 4. &#8211; Rod Lamkey\/AP\/File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Schwarzenegger will be back<\/h3>\n<p>Democrats have framed their plan as a potential check on Texas, where Republicans have introduced new maps that could eliminate as many as five Democratic seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. That may be a winning argument in an off-year election in a blue state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe choice will be between Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump,\u201d said Matt Rexroad, a Republican redistricting expert. \u201cThe odds of Republicans being able to win statewide is small.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean there won\u2019t be an expensive effort to try. The Republican-led opposition in the state is likely to be well funded, thanks to a mix of national and in-state donors.<\/p>\n<p>Schwarzenegger could also become a face of the coalition. The action star turned two-term California governor backed the ballot initiatives that placed the state\u2019s congressional and legislative maps in the hands of the independent commission. Since leaving office in 2011, he\u2019s campaigned on behalf of independent redistricting reforms in other states, including Michigan, Colorado and Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce he learned about gerrymandering when he was governor, he decided it was evil and he was going to fight it in California,\u201d spokesperson Daniel Ketchell told CNN. \u201cAnd once he was done being governor in California, he decided he was going to fight it all over the country, anytime he could.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-lightbox\" data-lightbox-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/ynlJJnoAYnWcnsO8in8QvQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE5MjA7aD0xMDgwO2NmPXdlYnA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/cbc202396eaba13fa049c0ee5112ab42\"><span class=\"caas-img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview caas-loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/uoV4_QAsFqVUoci_lsgVLA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/cbc202396eaba13fa049c0ee5112ab42\" alt=\"Steve Hilton announces his campaign for California governor in Huntington Beach, California, on April 22. - Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times\/Getty Images\/File\" data-caas-lazy-loading-init=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\" data-id=\"m-3\">Steve Hilton announces his campaign for California governor in Huntington Beach, California, on April 22. &#8211; Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times\/Getty Images\/File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Another Republican threatens to sue<\/h3>\n<p>Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate in California\u2019s 2026 governor\u2019s race, has said he will challenge the measure in court if Democrats get it on the ballot. He argued the legislature doesn\u2019t have accurate enough population data to draw new maps due to population shifts throughout the state after the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this whole thing is just a massive distraction from what we should be focusing on,\u201d Hilton told CNN. \u201cNevertheless, I think it is unfair to the at least 40% Republican voters in California, and so I think it needs to be stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s Republican members of Congress will also likely play a bigger role in pushing back against the redistricting. Rep. Kevin Kiley, whose district covers a broad swath of central California along the state\u2019s border with Nevada, introduced legislation last week to ban mid-cycle redistricting, including the effort underway in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Kiley, who is one of five Republicans whom CNN reported Democrats are targeting, said he\u2019s spoken to House Speaker Mike Johnson \u201cseveral times\u201d and has publicly called on him to allow a vote on his legislation when Congress returns from recess. \u201cI\u2019ve said that, as soon as we get back, I want to see a vote, and I\u2019m willing to use whatever tools I can to make that happen,\u201d Kiley said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unlikely Kiley\u2019s measure will advance, given President Donald Trump\u2019s insistence that Republican-led states should redraw their maps.<\/p>\n<p>Kiley\u2019s best ally may be the voters who formed the independent redistricting commission in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to be imperative that voters get accurate information, because if they do, I am very confident voters will affirm their earlier decision that politics should not be part of the redistricting process,\u201d Kiley said.<\/p>\n<p><em>CNN\u2019s David Adkins contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As California Democrats prepare to try to redraw the state\u2019s congressional maps in response to a\u00a0Republican-led effort in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1383,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions\/1383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}