“Meeting fire with fire.”
On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that California would “meet fire with fire” by calling a special election in November 2025 to approve a mid-decade redistricting plan in California that could create five more “Democratic-leaning” seats in the House.
In making his announcement, Governor Newsom made clear that California had been a leader in redistricting reform. California is one of the few states with an independent, non-partisan commission that attempts to set fair boundaries for congressional districts.
But Newsom recognized that saving democracy requires us to deal with the reality we face. The Governor said,
We must reconcile the world we live in . . . [We must] recognize that we have agency, that we are not bystanders in this world, and that we can shape the future. And that is what we intend to do today.
Governor Newsom said that California’s redistricting initiative was a direct consequence of the fact that on January 6, 2021, “Donald Trump attempted to light democracy on fire.” Newsom recalled that Trump tried to “dial for votes” in 2020, asking Georgia for almost 12,000 more votes.
And here we are again in open and plain sight, before one vote has been cast in the 2026 midterm election, and he is once again trying to rig the system. He doesn’t play by a different set of rules; he doesn’t believe in rules.
As a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done. It is not good enough to hold hands, hold a candlelight vigil, and talk about the way the world should be.
We have got to recognize the cards that have been dealt. And we have got to meet fire with fire.
It’s not complicated. We are doing this in reaction to the president of the United States calling a sitting governor of the state of Texas and saying, “Find me five seats.”
We are doing this in reaction to that act. We are doing it mindful of our higher angels. We are doing it mindful that we want to model better behavior, as we have been doing for fifteen years in the State of California with our independent redistricting commission.
But we cannot unilaterally disarm. We cannot stand back and watch this democracy disappear.
Governor Newsom’s remarks begin here: Gavin Newsom announces Election Rigging Response Act.
I highly recommend that you watch Governor Newsom’s ten-minute remarks. His remarks will give you confidence that Democrats can meet the moment by thinking outside the box.
As Governor Newson said, Trump doesn’t believe in the rules. Democrats must stop the handwringing and worrying about taking the high road in their effort to save democracy from a stochastic political terrorist. We must do what is necessary within the bounds of the law to resist a lawless president.
And that is the brilliance of Governor Newsom’s approach. While Texas is resorting to anti-democratic means to engage in partisan gerrymandering, Governor Newsom is asking the people to approve a mid-decade redistricting plan that will be implemented by a state constitutional amendment to appear on the November 2025 special election ballot. For details, see Governor Newsom launches statewide response to Trump rigging Texas’ elections | Governor of California.
The Election Rigging Response Act is fair and balanced to a fault. It provides the following:
Temporarily adopts new California congressional districts for use in congressional elections through 2030.
Retains California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission for redistricting after 2030 and declares state policy supporting the use of fair, nonpartisan redistricting commissions nationwide.
Preserves California’s current congressional maps if Texas or other states also keep their original maps.
So, Trump and Texas Governor Abbott can de-escalate the situation by stopping the partisan gerrymandering in Texas. It is doubtful that they will relent. Indeed, the Texas Democrats are returning to the state for understandable reasons. Once they return, we should expect that Texas will quickly redistrict.
Governor Abbott said he would continue to declare special sessions as long as necessary to force through the partisan gerrymandering bill that will give Trump five more Republican leaning districts in Texas. See Newsweek, Texas Democrats reveal list of demands for returning to state.
Per Newsweek,
Gene Wu, Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said on Thursday:
"Texas House Democrats broke quorum and successfully mobilized the nation against Trump's assault on minority voting rights. Facing threats of arrest, lawfare, financial penalties, harassment, and bomb threats, we have stood firm in our fight against a proposed Jim Crow congressional district map.
Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we're prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts."
Indeed, the courageous, out-of-the-box actions by the Texas Democrats did mobilize the nation to their cause. Although Texas will redistrict its maps, the efforts of Texas Democrats to break quorum gave California time to prepare a counterstrategy. Let’s hope that other blue states follow suit.
Thursday was a very good day for every American who seeks to preserve our democracy. We need more bold leadership from elected Democratic officials. Gavin Newsom (and others, including Raskin, Murphy, Van Hollen, Warren, AOC, Sanders, Schiff, Pritzker, Swalwell) are showing the way. Other Democratic leaders must demonstrate similar willingness to “meet fire with fire” or get out of the way and let others pick up the torch of freedom.
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
