In a brave move, Texas Republicans are about to redraw a map of the state’s legislature. This is an effort to boost President Trump and the GOP in the 2026 midterm elections.
Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to respond to Gerrymandering Blue California with gerrymandering blue California to lift and offset the lonely star charges to the Democrats.
That means discarding political boundaries depicted by an independent civic committee. This was created nearly 20 years ago to remove drawings from state politicians.
Our columnists Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chhabria strongly oppose, but friendlyly, the wisdom and meaning of Newsom’s threatened movement. Here they have it.
Barabak: Gavin Newsom – or, as he himself fantasizes, the 48th American president is probably second to Donald Trump when it comes to surfing political waves. And it is in rezoning and retaliation.
It might set a partisan democratic mind in the race – this is part of Newsom’s intentions, but it’s a bad move for all sorts of reasons. In particular, they ignored the will of California voters and said that national self-dealing politicians don’t have mass!
I understand the fire attitude and attitude animating partisan support for Get-even Talk by 48, ER, Newsom. However, the danger causes even more extensive damage.
Over the years, headline-hunger newspapers have not had many Jeetgeist movements. This is another one that belongs to the scrap heap.
Chabria: I agree that the odds in Vegas are on the side of this tat being nothing more than a partisan headline class.
but.
Here is a bigger and more important question that sums up how seriously you believe our democracy is at risk.
Mark – as you think at least you tend to want – this will pass, and our next election will be free and fair, but it may land. This is especially true in California. California is one of the few states that people have voted to ensure that election maps are drawn, with nonpartisan fairness in mind.
But if, like me, we think we are on the edge of the knife of losing democracy to authoritarianism, or at least the oli head-gerrymander where hatred is employed for power, becomes a form of peaceful resistance.
Newsom recently said, “We can act more than that. We can sit on the bystander and talk about how the world should be. Or we can recognize the existential nature that is this moment” – it gives you his thoughts and frankly mine.
I’ll dive further about it, but maybe that’s where we start. Do you think our democracy is healthy? Do you think that what we are witnessing is just an age of dissatisfaction that passes without enduring harm?
Barabak: I hope so.
I will not give to anyone who has no concern with Trump and what he is doing. He is an authoritarian. Authoritarian. arrogance. Anti-democracy. And it’s not even passing the word “A”
However, behaviors like one Newsom being threatened by recompartmentalization do not occur in a vacuum. It is important to keep in mind. Short-term tactical benefits can cause long-term pain.
In 2013, for example, Democrats were extremely upset by the Republican lockdown of President Obama’s judicial and administrative appointments, which Senate majority leader Harry Reid, evoked a “nuclear choice.” At Reid’s request, the Senate narrowly voted to change its rules and prohibit filtration of presidential candidates.
The result was an entire clown car of Defense Secretary Pete Hegses, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and members of Trump Cabinet.
And Democrats explicitly stated that changes to rules would not apply to the Supreme Court, but after the doors were opened, Republicans took their way and eliminated the filibuster for those candidates. The result was a conservative supermajority that bothered Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Connie Barrett and the High Court 6-3 Trump.
People who fight fires at the risk of fires will burn badly.
If Democrats want a war over district change, Republicans have more ways to win Jerrymander and potentially win seats than Democrats in places like Florida, Missouri, Ohio and more.
Chhabria: Definitely. But this is as low as it gets, I would pay Hegustes’s price, perhaps even two, if it really saves democracy. Here is the reality. Congress’s only hope to curb Trump through a democratic process is to turn at least some of his powers into Democrats in the 2026 election.
If Texas Republicans are under pressure from Trump, redraw five new GOP Leaning seats and it doesn’t explode in their faces, that could be, but that move would increase the likelihood that the house will remain Trump’s aide and an authoritarian outlook will go from a brush fire to a wildfire.
The truth is that gerrymandering is much more common than most people realize. Kevin Johnson, an expert in the electoral reform network, recently wrote that “in the 1990s, only 40% of seats in the House of Representatives were considered certain to one party or another.” That’s because gerrymandering is present in most states.
Truly, the only truly competitive race takes place in states like California, where independent, nonpartisan people draw election maps. So, to play the Devil Advocate, we are already losing out to gerrymandering in the US and California.
It’s a problem that can be resolved if the future president and Congress want to do so. But we need to reach the future president and Congress. I always put this on the record. I don’t care either Republicans or Democrats. I care about democracy.
If California gerrymanders transformed Congress into a real check on authoritarianism and helped to lock the gerrymandals down later, is that really bad?
Barabak: Your crystal ball must be more vague than mine.
I’m not sure everyone will have guaranteed GOP control in the home, even the seats in five Texas homes. (And let me put this on the record. I think I can totally blame Trump and his Texas Handmaiden for doing it.)
Since World War II, foreigners have averaged over 20 House seats in medium-term elections. Democrats need the three-person profit to grab control.
As you suggest, reversal of Republican political pigs can even backfire by spreading their voters too thinly and creating districts that Democrats might pick up if they had a large enough blue wave.
Speaking of movement, speaking of backfire, there’s no doubt that Californians will approve Newsom’s gerrymandering efforts if they vote in a special election to override the committee.
The surrender of power to politicians is a rather big question in today’s environment. And that’s not what Newsom would portray a deep reservoir of goodwill. Look at his poll count.
He went to South Carolina for a campaign for Democratic candidates, despite the state not having a single competitive contest. California has around ten races that seem at least somewhat competitive, but they haven’t seen any fellow Democrats seeking newspapers to stop by their district.
Chhabria: No crystal balls. What I have is a well with a deep foreboding, but the optimist hope that your blue waves, Power to the People scenarios will happen.
In the meantime, Newsom said Friday that rezoning was “not a bluff” and was exploring multiple ways to do so.
On that list is legal gambling. Our current rezoning law states that after the census, maps must be drawn quite a bit every ten years, but we are not particularly saying that gerrymandering is not possible during that time. Newsom essentially suggests fraud in the sunset clause. It’s an immediate constituency change that benefits Democrats, but expires when a regular constituency occurs.
It may be dramatic and just being bound by court indefinitely.
But I am frustrated that politicians, critics and even ordinary people continue to treat this administration as politics as usual. Even if driven by personal gains for the 2028 presidential bid, I am grateful that Newsom is not. Perhaps our democracy has been on the brink before, but that doesn’t make this cliff so dangerous. We need to think about either the far more harmless stressors that have plagued our system in the past, outside of our regular response to Republicans vs. Democrats, culture wars, or partisan divisions.
My favorite thing about Newsom jabs is to force a conversation like this and ask yourself how you fight different things.
Because this battle is different.
Barabak: This may sound like Poliannasish, but I don’t think there’s anything better about these horrible times in the ballot box.
Texas may host a competitive US Senate race next year. If Texans don’t like to gain power with GOP lawmakers, they can elect Democrats to send a message, helping the party overcome the odds and take control of the room. It would put a check on Trump whether Republicans stick to the house or not.
It is in the hands of voters. If democracy is protected and preserved, it is up to them. I don’t plan for a politician.
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