This week, the California Legislature will begin considering legislation to authorize a referendum to decide whether to temporarily bypass California’s independent redistricting commission and allow voters to decide on whether to accept congressional maps redrawn to favor Democrats in upcoming elections.
The Legislature meets amid an escalating national standoff between the two major parties, as Republicans in Texas are moving forward—on the request of the Justice Department and President Donald Trump—with action that could see their state’s voters hand Republicans five extra seats in the U.S. House in the midterm elections.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies are calling for the passage of a bill that would allow a referendum to decide whether to use Democrat-drawn congressional maps as soon as 2026 in a rare mid-decade redistricting effort to target five of the remaining nine Congressional districts still held by Republicans….