California passes partisan redistricting to mirror Texas

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday afternoon that teed up a statewide referendum on Nov. 4 on whether to adopt a new set of congressional district maps.

The plan, named the Election Rigging Response Act or ERRA, could unseat as many as five Republican lawmakers who currently represent the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. The plan wouldn’t add to the state’s current 52 total districts but it would change their composition. The plan passed both chambers of California’s legislature along partisan lines earlier on Thursday. The measure passed the Assembly in a 57-20 vote and the Senate by a 30-8 margin.

The effort comes five years ahead of when California would normally consider redistricting—a process that wasn’t set to take place until the U.S. census in 2030. But amid similar efforts in Texas to find a partisan advantage ahead of the 2026 midterms, Newsom has framed California’s efforts as a necessary foil to Republican plans in the Lone Star State.

“The people of California will have the power to push back against Texas and other states that obey [Donald Trump]’s demand to rig the next election,” Newsom said in a post to X shortly after the signing.

Last month, Trump called on Republicans to find five congressional seats in Texas through redistricting, hoping to secure an easier path to a majority in the U.S. House. The GOP holds a narrow, three-seat majority in the chamber and looks poised for a contentious election in 2026 for control.

What would ERRA do? It allows state lawmakers to temporarily suspend California’s constitutional redistricting process. Instead of the 14-member independent commission that would normally draw the state’s district lines every 10 years, ERRA would allow the temporary adoption of districts proposed directly by state lawmakers. These districts would remain in place until 2030, when the state’s regular process would resume.

Although the maps themselves were introduced to the California Legislature on Monday by Assem. Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the majority leader in the House, and state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, it’s unclear who drew the lines. Notably, language in ERRA stipulates the district lines would go into effect if—and only if—another state like Texas or Florida implements redistricting plans of their own.

What now? California’s plan can’t go into effect until November, when voters must vote to circumvent the state’s constitutional framework. Republican lawmakers who spoke to WORLD noted that preliminary polling suggests Democrats have mixed feelings about the plan. According to findings released by TrueDot and Politico on Thursday, 70% of Democrat respondents said they believe gerrymandering is wrong in all cases. At the same time, the survey found that 63% of Democrat participants said gerrymandering should be allowed in response to other plans, such as the one in Texas.

Dig deeper: Did you know that the vast majority of states say nothing at all about what limitations, if any, states must consider when conducting their congressional redistricting? Take a lookat my research to see if your state is one of the 33 that leaves redistricting up to the legislatures.