Imagine Washington being detained to explain by President Trump. Washington does not roll as Congress begs dogs to treat. Washington, with its checks and balances working in the way it is supposed to be.
It’s attractive, no?
Democrats need to win three seats in 2026, take control of the house and impose some measure on the fraudulent elephant president. That’s what Trump is keenly aware of. That’s why he’s urging Texas to take the extraordinary step of redrawing Congressional boundaries ahead of midterm elections.
Republicans who have been using iron-covered control over Texas for decades hold 25 of Texas’ 38 seats. The special session scheduled for next week in Austin is aimed at increasing that number to a maximum of five seats, and is likely to be hanging from the GOP home.
Enter the Governor Governor at the California White House, left stage, stage.
As part of a recent swing in the Southern campaign, Gavin Newsom sat down with a progressive Tennessee podcaster to discuss the GOP’s gain of power. (Picnic benches, shirt sleeves, beer and F bombs showed the governor was authentic in case there was doubt.)
“They’re not F-. They’re completely different now. They’re playing on a completely different set of rules,” Newsmom said of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his fellow Republicans. A few years ago, he said California had established an independent committee to draw political boundaries. This is said to be done normally 10 years after new census figures come out.
But in the vast majority in Sacramento, Democrats said “there are no gerrymanders like any other state.”
“We’ve played fairly,” he continued, but Abbott’s actions “staked questions over the entire program.” He then elaborated on social media, with the governor accusing Republicans of cheating on the road to the extra house sheets, saying, “The CA is watching.
There’s a Texas look for that: there’s no hat and cow.
In fact, voters have deprived political linedrawing power from the governor and his fellow lawmakers for good reason. And no matter how badly his central swagger goes with the Democrats that are plaguing Trump, it doesn’t seem like Newsom can unilaterally regain that power.
“We have a committee,” said Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School rezoning law expert. “Not only that, the constitution and committees are in the constitution. Not only that, there is a constitution that only redeems once every ten years unless there are legal issues with existing maps.”
In other words, it doesn’t lead to newspaper films to huff and blow away the area of an existing home.
California voters approved Proposal 20 in November 2010, where the Congressional boundaries were drawn to a nonpartisan 14-member committee. The key was to introduce competition by stealing constituencies from self-dealers. It passed with an overwhelming margin of 61% to 39% and worked as intended.
After decades of pre-baked congressional contests, California became a hotbed of competition when the success of one party or the other party was effectively guaranteed. In recent years, the state after the president’s vote in November has been key to controlling the House. In 2026, dozens of the 52 seats could be at least somewhat competitive.
“I think it worked,” said Sarah Sadwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona University and a member of the Constituency Change Committee (others who were performing the mapping included seminary professors, structural engineers and investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office).
There are two ways Newsom and his fellow Democrats can revert the handiwork on the committee, Levitt said.
They broke the law, passed new line-drawing laws, faced inevitable lawsuits, and managed to win with a sympathetic ruling from the California Supreme Court. Alternatively, you could ask voters to approve various policies through new constitutional amendments in a rushing special election ahead of the mid-term of 2026.
Both scenarios seem as plausible as fulfilling his pledge to name two other luxury promises, as he fulfills his pledge to provide universal healthcare and build new homes for 3.5 million people a year.
To be clear, none of the above tolerate the plot that Trump and Abbott are trying to hatch. Their actions are politically ruthless and a bit cynical. (A letter from the Justice Department in Trump’s ancestors’ hands provided legal fig leaves for special sessions. Texas recently notified that four of its majority past Congressional districts were unconstitutional along racial lines, and that they justified drawings of new maps.)
But that’s not an excuse for Newsom to end California voters. It also calls for special elections that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when the state is gushing red ink.
Politics rooted in vengeance is in danger, whether it’s Trump or Newsom trying to resolve the score.
There are also issues that pose vacant threats. Some Democrats may thrill every time Newsom delivers one of his favourable declarations. That seems to be a big part of his presidential election strategy. But those same voters may get bored of the lack of follow-through, as Californians have.
Newsom has a reputation that is worthy of being short, not overly recommended.
It’s unlikely to help him on the national stage.
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