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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is ready to fight “fire and fire” as state Republican lawmakers seek to enact a rezoning in Texas.
At a press conference Monday, Newsom said he supports an independent constituency change, a national framework, and that the proposed proposals in Congress support strengthening what he supports.
“The proposal that we are moving forward in Congress will only have a trigger if we move forward to dismantle established protocols,” the governor said. “Does California move forward kindly? Will they fight? Yes, light it with fire.”
When asked about meetings with California Democrats on Sunday night, during which time they either drafted or nearly finished drafting map rezonings, and said whether he saw those maps, he wasn’t.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is ready to fight the fire if Texas legislators approve a measure to enact a rezoning in the state. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
However, he said there was a continuous string of conversations last evening, which continued on Monday morning until Democrats rose to the process.
“The process requires two-thirds of Congress to agree,” he said. “We believe maps should be transparent. They should generally be provided in a transparent way, and as a result, those maps have been processed and revealed.”
But at the end of the day, Newsom said that Californians would make the ultimate statement.
“Only if Texas moves forward, we will provide them with the opportunity to make judgments for themselves again,” Newsom said. “It reinforces our belief that it should be a national model, an independent national constituency, and that will return to its original form, but it is done in response to the existential reality we are facing now. Things have changed, the facts have changed.”
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Newsom and Trump Showdown (Pool)
“They are causing this reaction, and we are not going to roll over, we are going to fight fire with fire, but we are not just punching together the weight of the fourth largest nation, the size of the population of 21 states, the most important nations in our union,” he continued. “We also outweigh our weight in terms of the impact of what we’re doing, and I think that should be absorbed by the people of the Texas delegation.
California GOP Chair Corrin Rankin told Fox News Digital that Newsom’s actions could set dangerous precedents while threatening Californians’ constitutional rights.
“Governor Newsom frames this district as a defensive move, but it undermines California’s nationally respected and voter-approved civic district change committee. If successful, it sets a dangerous precedent that voter choices can be rejected whenever politicians find politically convenient,” Rankin said. “Our main concern is protecting Californians’ constitutional rights to partisan manipulation disguised as defending democracy. True democracy means deciding representation by voters rather than politicians.”
Dozens of Texan Democrats fled the state, travelling to Chicago and New York on Sunday night, blocking votes in their districts on Monday.
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Texas Democrats stood next to Illinois legislators on August 4, 2025, opposed the proposed district change measures by Texas Republicans. (Fox News)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to arrest and expel lawmakers if they don’t return by Monday afternoon.
Shortly after Abbott issued his statement, the Texas House Democrat Caucus issued a simple response, writing, “Come and take it.”
The statement also described the Republican proposed district. This could secure five new GOP US House seats in the mid-term elections next year as a “racist medieval constituency change scheme.”
Abbott criticized the Democrats’ dramatic departure, saying, “The real Texans don’t run away from the fight.”
On Monday evening, Illinois legislators hosted the Texas Democrats for a press conference. During that time, no lawmakers asked a single question from the media.
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott looked at at a press conference held in Austin, Texas on March 15, 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Still, D-Ill Rep. Robin Kelly welcomed her colleagues and said they could stay as long as they wanted, as they believed what they were doing.
“What you’re doing and what you’re doing… what they’re trying to do in Texas affects you, but that affects the whole country,” she said. “When we want to get rid of five Democrats… that hurts us in the house.”
She explained that when there are not enough Democrats, other Republican initiatives will go through, like they called it a “big ugly bill.”
“They are trying to destroy our democracy and destroy the fairness of our country,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, they start in Texas. But we want you to know, we’re standing by your side.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of D-Ill accused Abbott of not intervening for those affected by the devastating flooding in Texas’ Hill Country area.
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US Raja Krishnamorthi (D-IL) will answer questions at a press conference on August 10, 2022 about his recent Congressional Delegation Trip to the Indo-Pacific region in Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.
Specifically, he accused Abbott of not having a special session to help his family rebuild, but instead “defeating Democrats” from the federal delegation, instead of “bidding” for President Donald Trump.
Krishnamoulti then directed Abbott his comment, saying, “Don’t ruin Texas.”
“You can silence them. You can fill them up. You can saddle them with debt and fins. But you can’t threaten them,” Krishnamorthi said. “You can gerrymander hell from that map. What do you guess? The two can play that game. That’s right. The other states do exactly the same thing and neutralize what they’re trying to do in Texas.”
Other lawmakers standing side by side in Illinois have chosen to condemn Trump’s racially driven policy.
Texas Rep. Anna Maria Rodriguez Ramos said Trump’s policies hurt working families.
“It’s nothing but racism,” she said. “He’s coming after all of us who don’t look like him and his Republican colleagues at our Texas home.”
Trump is interrupted by giving his joint speech to Congress and protesting his cuts to multiple government programs. March 4th (AP)
Rep. Al Green of D-Texas, following Rodriguez Ramos, has added more racist charges, saying Republicans are doing what Trump claims they have done.
“I want you to know that when this message was sent to Texas by the Department of Justice and we were sent to the Attorney General, we didn’t introduce race cards,” he said. “They talked about racial gerrymandering so they mentioned race cards. They raised it, and when they raised it, they did it.
“They know that’s the word Buzz that people respond in Texas, but we’re going to respond to that topic by telling them that your racism won’t change Texas democracy,” Green continued. “In the United States, racism will fulfill us as a democratic position. You take a racist position, we support democracy, we win.”
Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, said he was pleased that states like California and New York were able to stand up to Texas Democrats.
She called the issue “national war” and “all-out war” and everything was on the table.
“We came from a state of great pride and didn’t expect that as Texans, elected members of the Texas House of Representatives, now elected members of the Texas state’s U.S. House of Representatives, as Texas election members, we never thought we would see a Texas proud national governor bent his knees from New York,” Johnson added. “I didn’t expect to see that day, but I’m here.”
Rep. D-Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett was also standing with fellow Illinois Democrats, accusing Abbott of speaking “a lot of noise.” She also accused Republicans of being “weak.”
“The difference is that they hope Democrats will become our lovely person,” Crockett said. “They expect us to take the punch and say thank you. Well, I’m here to not only punch back at you, but to tell you we’re going to beat you.”
Still, Abbott told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday that Texas is doing what it can do with the law.
He also accused state Democrats of turning their backs on the Texans and not dealing with the flooding issue, and still reverberating throughout the state.
Abbott said four of the five seats that could change due to the rezoning would be primarily Hispanic.
“These are the seats Democrats have to come to get a sense of reality,” he said.
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He also said Democrats are “going crazy” because they realize Texas has district authority.
“Texas will continue to fight for the right thing,” Abbott said.
Anders Hagstrom and Elizabeth Pritchett of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to greg.wehner @fox.com and Twitter @gregwehner.
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