Governor vows to ‘fight fire with fire’ if plans for Texas redistricting voted through

California governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to “fight fire with fire” in response to moves in Texas to redraw the electoral map to favour Republicans.

- JOE SOMMERLAD

Newsom was speaking as Greg Abbott, his Lone Star State counterpart, ordered the arrest of the 51 state Democratic lawmakers who have left Texas to prevent its House of Representatives from voting through numerous proposals that are advantageous to the GOP.

Speaking of the possibility of Texas engaging in its own retaliatory redistricting push to weaken Republican-leaning districts, Newsom said: “The proposal that we’re advancing with the legislature has a trigger only if they move forward, to dismantle the protocols that are well-established. Would the state of California move forward in kind? Fighting? Yes, fire with fire.”

He acknowledged, however, that going ahead with such a step would have to be done within the law, commenting: “That process has to have the concurrence [and] the support of two-thirds of the legislature. The maps, we believe, should be transparent. They should be provided in a transparent way to the public, and as a consequence, those maps are being processed and will be brought to light.”