The battle over redrawing congressional districts is spreading across the United States. On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he will move forward with a plan to approve a new congressional district map in the state, in response to an initiative launched in the Republican-led Texas in mid-July.
It was the first escalation to go beyond words in a confrontation between the two parties that has been heating up for a month. Beyond Texas and California, states from Florida to Missouri, and including New York and Indiana, are now starting to make moves in an unprecedented race to influence the 2026 midterm elections. In those elections, the entire House of Representatives is up for renewal, and the ruling party usually loses seats, so Republicans fear losing their slim majority — 219 to 212, with four vacancies — that they currently hold.
Redrawing the maps that determine which voters elect each district’s representatives to Congress — known as gerrymandering — is an established practice in U.S. politics, though it is usually done quietly at the designated times every decade, following the completion of the census.
This year, however, U.S. President Donald Trump’s open call for Texas Republican legislators to use a special session to pass a new district — which could give his party five more House seats if voters act as they did in the 2024 presidential election — has upended the usual conventions.
The battle has also elevated Newsom’s profile as Trump’s most prominent opponent. The governor has taken the gloves off, mimicking Trump’s style on social media with all-caps posts and superlatives; and at the press conference unveiling his strategy to redraw California’s congressional map, he openly endorsed the plan.
“We tried to raise the standards, but these guys are not playing by any set of rules, so this time requires us to act anew,” Newsom said in a combative speech, calling for a vote on November 4, when a majority of Californians will have to approve the redistricting, designed to give Democrats five additional seats in Congress.
Newsom’s announcement came just as Texas Democrats — who left the state two weeks ago to block the vote on the Texas redistricting — spoke to the press. According to Gene Wu, a spokesperson for the caucus, he and his fellow rebels are ready to return now that the issue has escalated nationwide.
