Democrats launch bid to redraw House district maps

California lawmakers will weigh putting the measure before voters to counter Texas.

- SEEMA MEHTA AND LAURA J. NELSON

ALLEN J. SCHABEN L.A. Times THE PUSHBACK against GOP efforts is led by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

California Democrats on Monday kicked off the process to redraw the state’s congressional districts, an extraordinary action they said was necessary to neutralize efforts by President Trump and Texas Republicans to increase the number of GOP lawmakers in Congress.

If the measure is approved by state lawmakers this week, Californians will vote on it, labeled Proposition 50, in a special election in November.

At a news conference unveiling the legislation, Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said they agreed with Gov. Gavin Newsom that California must respond to Trump's efforts to "rig" the 2026 midterms by working to reduced by half the number of Republicans in the state's 52-member congressional delegation.

They said doing so is essential to stymieing the president's far-right agenda.

"I want to make one thing very clear, I'm not happy to be here. We didn't choose this fight. We don't want this fight," said Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park). "But with our democracy on the line, we cannot run away from this fight, and when the dust settles on election day, we will win."

Republicans accused Democrats of trying to subvert the will of the voters, who passed independent redistricting 15 years ago, for their own partisan goals.