California GOP’s answer to redistricting? A two-state solution
California Republicans are now suggesting a “two-state solution” to counter Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to redraw congressional boundaries, following a second attempt earlier this week to get the state Supreme Court to intervene.
Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, unveiled a long-shot resolution Wednesday to sever inland counties from the coast and form a separate republic that he said would be more responsive to rural citizens’ priorities. During a press conference, he invoked “Go Down Moses,” the African-American spiritual traditionally associated with the anti-slavery movement and the Civil War.
“A long time ago, a man went to a great king in a land where his people were being completely oppressed, economically oppressed,” Gallagher told reporters. “And he said to that king, ‘Let my people go.’ Well, in the same token, this morning, I’m saying, ‘Gavin, Let my people go.’”
The California Legislative Black Caucus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The map accompanying Gallagher’s resolution corrals the state’s population centers, like the Bay Area, San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento into one state. Inner counties, including the North State, Inland Empire and Central Valley would be siphoned off into another state, which Gallagher claimed would be the nation’s seventh-largest.
There have been 220 previous attempts to break up California, according to the state library, including one that predated the state’s founding in 1850. The State of Jefferson, a secessionist movement to group the North State with several Southern Oregon counties, could have been successful were it not for the outbreak of World War II, Gallagher said.
Newsom’s office dismissed Gallagher’s resolution, which has little chance of passing the Legislature’s Democratic supermajority, as a “stunt that will go nowhere,” and said “a person who seeks to split California does not deserve to hold office in the Golden State.”
Since June, Newsom has called for California to redistrict its congressional lines and eke out another five liberal-leaning seats to counter Texas Republicans’ plan to do the same ahead of the 2026 midterms. The California map drawn up by political cartographer Paul Mitchell would see much of the North State and Central Valley redrawn to include more liberal voters from the Sacramento area and coast.
As a legislative Republican, Gallagher’s district would remain intact, but Democrats are targeting his congressional allies, Republican Reps. Doug LaMalfa and Kevin Kiley, to dilute the ruby-red strongholds they currently oversee. District voters interviewed by The Sacramento Bee expressed a mix of outrage and optimism at the prospect of being represented by more liberal leaders.
Newsom, via his Proposition 50 campaign, is asking voters to pass a constitutional amendment approving Mitchell’s map, which if successful would be in effect for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 election cycles.
On Monday, Republican legislators asked the California Supreme Court for the second time to swiftly block Prop. 50 from the ballot, arguing that lawmakers had bypassed the mandated 30-day public review period and violated the state constitution.
This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 12:31 PM.
