How the Democrats plan to reshape California’s congressional delegation and thwart Trump
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats urged to take back that party power after California voters deprived them of the ability to draw boundaries in the congressional district.
The re-division plan formed in Sacramento and heading towards voters in November may control the Golden State political landscape for at least six years after the 2026 midterm elections, and which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives will be the fate of President Trump’s political agenda.
What Golden State voters choose to do will reverberate nationwide, killing some political causes and launching other careers, inspiring other states to reconfigure their own congressional areas, and raising the image of the news agency to become Trump’s top nemesis and leader of the country’s democratic resistance.
The new map, drawn by democratic strategists and lawmakers closed legislators, was submitted to legislative leaders by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. They are expected to appear in the special election vote on November 4, as well as a constitutional amendment that will cover the independent redivision commission approved by voters in the state.
From forests near the Oregon State Line to deserts in Death Valley and Palm Springs, to the U.S.-Mexico border, these changes will cover hundreds of miles of California, from forests near the Oregon State Line to the U.S.-Mexico border, expanding Democratic control over California and further segregating Republicans.
The proposed map will focus Republican voters in a few deep areas and eliminate seats in the Inland Empire Congress represented by the longest-serving members of the California Republican delegation. For Democrats, the plans will raise the fate of emerging politicians and capture vulnerable businesses in Congress, including two new members who won the election last fall with less than 1,000 votes.
“This is the final announcement of a political war between California and the Trump administration,” said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego.
How will the voting measures work?
In order for the state to revoke the independent redivision process approved by voters in 2010, most California voters must approve the measure, which supporters call the “Election Rigging Response Act.”
The state legislature, which enjoys great grand occasions in both the parliament and the Senate, will vote language next week when lawmakers return from summer vacation. Both Chambers need to pass the ballots in a two-thirds majority and deliver the bill to Newsom’s desk by August 22, leaving enough time to mail voter guides and print ballots.
The ballot language has not been released yet. However, the decision on approving the new map will ultimately depend on voters in the state, who supported the independence re-division in 2010 by more than 61%. Registered Democrats in California almost two-on-one than Republican voters, providing a definite advantage for supporters of the measure.
Newsom said the measure would include a “trigger”, meaning that the state’s map will only take effect if Republican states, including Texas, Florida and Indiana, approve the new mid-term map.
“There are still exit ramps,” Newsom said. “We hope they won’t move forward.”
Explaining the esoteric concept of re-dividing and attracting voters to the annual election will require Newsom and its allies, including the organized workforce, to launch an expensive campaign soon.
“It’s summer in California,” Kuser said. “People don’t focus on that.”
California has no limit on the campaign contribution of voting measures, a measure that makes Democrats against Trump and Republicans who oppose Newsom could be a high, high-cost national fight.
“It’s tens of millions of dollars, which will be determined based on how the opposition looks,” Newsom said on Thursday. The fundraising campaign “is not trivial… considering the 90-day sprint.”
The campaign website for the voting measures mentioned three main sources of funding to date: Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign, the Washington House Democratic Party’s main political action committee, and Manhattan Beach businessman Bill Bloomfield, a longtime donor to the California Democratic Party.
Those who oppose the mid-decade re-division are also expected to receive good funding and believe the effort betrays the will of voters who approved the 2010 independent Congress to re-division.
What are the risks?
Control over the U.S. House of Representatives is pending.
During the midterm elections, meetings in the White House often lose seats. Republicans hold a razor majority in the House, while Democrats control the House in 2026 will hinder Trump’s controversial right-wing agenda in the last two years of his tenure.
After the U.S. census, re-division usually occurs only once. But Trump has been promoting Republican states, starting with Texas, and re-drawing his own boundaries in the mid-decade to increase Republican opportunities in the mid-term.
Encouraged by Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a special legislative session to remake a Texas Congress map to support five other Republicans. In response, Newsom and other California Democrats called for their own maps, which would benefit five Democrats.
Democratic Texas lawmakers fled the state, denying the legislature quorum and halting the vote. They face daily fines, death threats and calls for removal from the office. They agreed to return to Austin after the special session ended Friday, with one condition that California Democrats moved forward by re-dividing the plan.
This situation has the potential to fall into a full-scale redistribution arms race, with Trump leaning towards remakes Indiana, Florida, Ohio and Missouri, while Newsom calls for blue states including New York and Illinois.
California Republican with crosshairs
Gerrymandering, California, plans to target five of the nine Republican members of California: Rep. Kevin Kiley and Doug Lamalfa of Northern California, Rep. David Valadao of Central Valley, and Rep. Ken Calvert and Darrell Issa of Southern California.
The map consolidates Republican voters into fewer ruby red areas, called “voting.” Some conservative and rural areas will be moved to areas where Republican voters will be diluted by the superiority of senior Democratic voters registration.
The biggest change is Calvert, who will see his Inland Empire section be eliminated.
Calvert has been in Congress since 1992, representing a sprawling riverside county that includes Lake Elsino, Menifie, Palm Springs and his Corona family base. Calvert, who oversees defense spending on a strong House Appropriations Committee, won his reelection comfortably last year, despite Democrats hosting a heavily funded national campaign.
Under the proposed map, the Inland Empire District will be carved and redistributed, wrapping it in the area represented by Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills). Free Palm Springs will be moved to an area represented by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsal), which will help tilt the area from Republicans to narrow swing seats.
Members of Congress do not need to live in their area, but unless he runs against Kim or Issa, there is no obvious seat in Calvert.
On Friday afternoon, screenshots of the map leak began to circulate, prompting California Republicans to push immediately and sharply.
The lines are “the third world dictator stuff” and “the slices and chops of Orange County cities are obscene,” said Will O’Neill, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, on X.
In Northern California, the borders of the Keelle area will shrink and enter the suburbs of Sacramento to increase registered Democrats. Kiley said in an article on social media site X that he hopes his region remains the same as voters will “beat Newsom’s Sham Sham Initiative and prove the will of California voters.”
The area of Lamalfa will move south away from rural and conservative areas along the Oregon border and pick up more free zones in parts of Sonoma County
In central California, the border will be transferred to representatives on shore. Gray won the election last year with 187 votes, the country’s narrowest profit.
Valadao is a perennial target for the Democrats and will see the northern border of his area extending to the blue suburbs of Fresno. Democrats have been working for years to replace Valadao, which represents a region with a strong Democratic voter registration advantage on paper, but the turnout for blue voters is very small.
Democrats open seats
These maps include a new congressional seat in Los Angeles County that will extend to the southeastern cities of Downey, Santa Fe Springs, Whittier and Lakewood. Opening a seat in Congress is a rare opportunity for politicians, especially in deep blue Los Angeles County where incumbent lawmakers can keep their work for decades.
Part of the region was once represented by retired U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, the first Mexican woman to be elected to Congress. The seat was eliminated in the 2021 re-division cycle, when California lost its seat in Congress for the first time in history.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis told California Congressional delegation members that she is considering running for a new seat.
Another possible contender, former Parliament Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lakewood, launched a campaign for the state principal in late July and could be out of place.
Other legislators representing nearby areas or regions include state Sens. BlancaRubio (D-Baldwin Park) and Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera) and convener Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier).
In Northern California, the southern end of the Lamalfa area will extend south to Santa Rosa and Healdsberg in Sonoma County, home to Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire. McGuire will be called the state Senate next year, and the new seat could bring him major opportunities in Washington.
