Newsom makes it official: Californians will vote on new congressional maps Nov. 4
With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Gavin Newsom officially kicked off a 75-day sprint to persuade voters to allow lawmakers to temporarily redraw California’s 52 congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterms.
Newson signed a legislative package setting a special election for Nov. 4, when voters will be asked to approve redistricting maps that would eke out another five Democratic-leaning House seats in the North State, Central Valley, and Southern California. The Legislature approved the three bills earlier on Thursday after hours of tense debate.
“We will be the first state in US history to, in the most democratic way, submit to the people of our state the ability to determine their own maps that simply has not been done,” Newsom told reporters shortly before signing the package.
An accompanying campaign launched last week in Los Angeles has already netted more than $6 million in donations and energized party faithful who want to see Democrats stand up to President Donald Trump. It has also boosted national name recognition in polls for Newsom, who is believed to be eyeing a run for higher office after he is termed out next year.
“I put my faith that there’s someone here in the great state of California who one day will be walking around being the President of the United States and while there ... will be able to pass federal independent redistricting commission for all states,” said Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno.
Since June, Newsom has been calling for Democrats to respond in kind after Trump asked Texas Republicans to guarantee him another five seats to advantage the GOP in 2026. As of Thursday afternoon, the Texas Senate was poised to send its own maps to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for signing after the House approved them. Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett said ahead of the vote that he wouldn’t run for reelection.
Similar efforts have now spread to both blue and red states like Indiana, Missouri, Maryland and New York.
Newsom linked redistricting to the federal government’s recent incursions into Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and referenced immigration agents’ recent appearance at his campaign launch a week ago.
“That’s a preview of things to come all across the United States of America,” he said.
Democrats both statewide and nationally cheered him on. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene said she applauded him in a statement.
“Republicans realize that voters have soured on their agenda of higher prices and broken promises, and are faced with the reality that the only way to win in 2026 is to rig the election,” she said. “In holding a special election to ask the voters of California to decide on a new congressional map, California’s proposal stands in stark contrast to the Republicans’ shameless scheme in Texas.”
Sacramento veteran political cartographer Paul Mitchell drafted the maps that Californians will vote on in November, which would push more liberal voters into five districts currently held by Republican Reps. Kevin Kiley, Ken Calvert, David Valadao, Doug LaMalfa and Darrell Issa.
California Republicans, vastly outnumbered in both chambers of the Legislature, vowed to fight back, filing an emergency court challenge this week that was swiftly shot down by the state Supreme Court.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has lent his support to an opposition campaign being led by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and chiefly funded by good governance advocate Charles Munger Jr.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 4:53 PM.
