California moves to dismantle GOP map -- and Trump's grip

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Politico

08/04/2025 06:52 PM EDT


California’s Texas-thwarting gerrymander has swiftly transformed from fantasy to reality. Democrats in the House and the state Legislature are coalescing around a plan to draw a half-dozen Republican incumbents into oblivion — and persuade California voters to approve the new congressional maps before next year’s midterms.

Party leaders are closely tracking the dual-track developments in which lawmakers in Texas and California are moving, in partisan parallel, to shore up their respective party’s House majorities. California Republicans are casting about for a way to avoid extinction. It all points to a high-stakes, big-dollar brawl thrusting California to the center of the political universe.

“Legally, we can do it,” said Xavier Becerra, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Biden Cabinet secretary who is working with a voting rights institute that has briefed lawmakers. “Politically, we must do it.”

It could result in as many as five new blue seats and Democrats holding all but four of California’s 52 congressional districts, according to a slide presented to members of Congress and viewed by POLITICO. That analysis tracks with the presentation to Democrats in Sacramento, which envisioned forcing out GOP incumbents including Reps. David Valadao, Kevin Kiley and Darrell Issa.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/04/california-fires-back-at-texas-redistricting-00493314

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Issa's seat should be #1 to be dissolved!

[ancianita]

1. GO, BADASS CALIFORNIA!

[Hornedfrog2000]

2. Good, they must be stopped

The world will end if they dont.

[Vinca]

3. The media is going to drive me crazy. Yesterday, on NBC, the woman filling in for Alex Nitwit went on and on

about how Democrats could possibly keep the high ground if we do the same thing. Screw the high ground. When we play nice, they stab us in the back . . . and the front . . . and the side. No more.

[dlk]

5. When are Republicans EVER asked to take the high ground?

When are Republicans EVER held accountable for their destructive policies? And last, why is it always Democrats’ job to clean up Republicans messes?

There is a glaring double standard.

[Magoo48]

11. There is no moral high ground visible except as it's being revealed on the streets and in the fields of California.

Tactical high ground is the objective now. We repel fascism or freedom is lost.

[orangecrush]

30. This

[Oeditpus Rex]

23. I love Michelle Obama to dearh, but

when she said "When they go low, we go high," I wanted to throw up.

I've been saying since 2004 we've got to play it like they they do. "High ground" doesn't win elections.

[ZDU]

28. When they go low...

... we kick their sorry asses into oblivion and extinction

[FBaggins]

4. Drawing such a map now makes it less likely that it will get approved

This is what makes me think that the whole effort is an attempt to get TX to back down.

The path that’s more likely to result in an actual map change is to look more measured and then draw new lines after the voters actually approve it. But by then TX will be done and gone. They want to scare republicans in TX while the quorum is still busted and the course might change.

[AverageOldGuy]

6. Could be

Your scenario makes a lot of sense. However -- as I suspect you know -- these are not normal times!!!

I applaud the California action because it's the first time I can recall Democrats showing a backbone since FDR's 1936 speech in Madison Square Garden:

They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.

While that line is the most quoted, we all should read the entire speech -- sounds as though it was written today.
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-madison-square-garden-new-york-city-1

[Bluetus]

9. Of course it is a threat, but it needs to be more than CA and TX and more than 2026

Last edited Tue Aug 5, 2025, 11:55 AM - Edit history (1)

I trust that Newsom, Pritzker, Hochul and some other strong Blue Governors are coordinating on this. The immediate goal is to scare Texas (and any other Red state considering additional gerrymandering ) to stand down immediately.

The media loves this kind of conflict, so Dems should take advantage of this by framing a position like:

Democrats want FAIR elections without ANY Gerrymandering. We want the people to pick their representatives, not the representatives to pick their people. But if states like Texas persist in rigging the districts to cut the people out of our democracy, Democrats will have no choice but to fight fire with fire. We are working on provisional plans to introduce gerrymandering in our states to offset the rigging that has already been done in Republican states. Across the country, we are developing plans that are likely to gerrymander about 20 Congressional districts from Red to Blue -- a swing of 40 seats in the House. We will put these plans on hold under three conditions:
1) That Texas and any other Red state immediately stop plans for any further gerrymandering leading to the 2026 mid-terms
2) Nationwide, all states agree to no further redistricting prior to the next census
3) We work toward national legislation to de-politicize redistricting, with these plans in place in 50 states before the next census

We need BOLD ideas. The media is paying attention. Don't let this opportunity escape.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

10. I love the idea of the federal legislation on redistricting...

...and I'm all behind blue states going tit-for-tat with Texas in this instance, but I do wish Democrats would stop talking about gerrymandering leading to unfair elections and that we don't like it.

Of course we do - when you look at who voted for Democrats and Republicans in the 2024 House election v. the seats of each in the states, we have some of the most gerrymandered states out there. And I get it, that's the way the game is played, but it's just intellectually dishonest to continue to act like we don't gerrymander too.

[Bluetus]

14. In 2010, there were only a couple of states that had a non-partisan process for districts

Now there are about a half-dozen more and EVERY ONE of the new ones is a blue state. There aren't any of the big red states that have moved to a non-partisan system.

Democrats are not perfect, but we are a lot closer to the democratic ideals than the GOP (Guarding Old Pedophiles).

[SickOfTheOnePct]

15. California has an independent commission

Yet if you look at the numbers and the map itself, it heavily favors Democrats.

It is what it is.

[Bluetus]

24. That is not what the Princeton survey says.

That's just one data point, and I don't know how reliable it is, but Princeton says there is no bias in the CA system. They say the same thing about IN, and I know for certain that is not true.

https://gerrymander.princeton.edu/

[SickOfTheOnePct]

25. It says "Better than average with some bias"...

...which to me, is obvious, not just by the numbers, but also by shapes of the districts in California.

And they say IN is good, which i also disagree with, and the MD is better than average with some bias, which I also don't agree with.

This is why I've come around to a enacting a federal law that says how every state will do redistricting.

[dlk]

7. NY Governor Hochul needs to get right on this, as well

Republicans mean business and so should Democrats, if we are to ever take our country back from the clutches of fascism. If not, the worst is yet to come, guaranteed.

As long as the Supreme Court turns a blind eye to partisan gerrymandering, we don’t have much of a choice. Republicans cheat to win and Democrats must play hardball.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

8. Gerrymandering is not cheating

Yes, Texas is being incredibly blatant in what they're doing, but for us to act like Democrats don't gerrymander is kind of silly.

When looking at House votes in 2024, California is already more gerrymandered than Texas - what Texas is doing will put them on about equal footing. That doesn't mean that California shouldn't respond and gerrymander even more, but this idea that somehow Republicans have been playing the gerrymander game while Democrats have kept the so-called high ground isn't really factually based.

[sdfernando]

13. I dispute your claim that California is more gerrymandered than Texas.

Its simply NOT true.

1st of all, California's current congressional districts are a result of a NON-PARTISAN board that draws the districts, unlike Texas.

A simple google search will bear this out. This article is from 2024:

https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-most-gerrymandered-states-wisconsin-1915098

[SickOfTheOnePct]

16. A non-partisan board that drew districts...

...such that Democrats get ~61% of the votes in House races in 2024 but win ~83% of the House seats, a 22% delta, which is more than three times the delta in Texas (as currently drawn), where Republicans got ~59% of the votes and ~66% of the seats.

As I said, that's the way the game is played, and there is no reason Democrats shouldn't play it as well or better than Republicans. But let's not act like we're really against it but the Republicans give us no choice.

[sdfernando]

17. Seems like you are implying the non-partisan board is actually partisan

this is not the case.

California uses a nonpartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) to draw the boundaries for its congressional, state legislative (Senate and Assembly), and Board of Equalization districts.

Here's how the system works:

Establishment and Authority:
The CRC was established by California voters through two ballot measures: the Voters First Act (Proposition 11) in 2008 for state legislative and Board of Equalization districts, and the Congressional Voters First Act (Proposition 20) in 2010 which extended the commission's authority to include Congressional districts.
These acts transferred the power to draw district lines from the state Legislature to this independent, nonpartisan commission.

Commission Structure and Selection:
The CRC consists of 14 members: five Democrats, five Republicans, and four members not affiliated with either of those two parties.
The commissioners are selected through a rigorous process designed to ensure their independence, starting with an application process handled by the California State Auditor.
Candidates are vetted, narrowed down, and eventually, the initial eight commissioners are randomly selected. These eight then select the remaining six, according to CalMatters.

Redistricting Process and Criteria:
Every ten years, after the federal census, the CRC redraws the district lines to reflect changes in population.
The commission's process emphasizes transparency and public input, involving extensive public hearings and the collection of comments from citizens across the state.
The districts must be drawn in accordance with strict, nonpartisan criteria outlined in the state constitution, including ensuring equal population, complying with the Voting Rights Act, maintaining geographic contiguity and compactness, preserving communities of interest, and keeping city and county lines intact.
Importantly, the CRC is forbidden from drawing districts to benefit a party or candidate, or considering the addresses of incumbents or candidates.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

18. You believe they are actually non-partisan

Based on the actual outcome, I disagree.

[sdfernando]

21. In the last national election, 2024, 3 California congressional districts flipped from red to blue.

The last congressional redistricting was done in 2021, so the 2022 House election still had those 3 red districts that flipped in 2024. Same districts and borders. Population within districts changed and peoples attitudes changed. The changes weren't due to gerrymandering.

[LogDog75]

32. If you look at voter registration by party affiliation

You'll see the following statewide percentages:

Democratic: 45.27%
republican: 25.22%
No party preference (aka: Independents): 22.34%
Other parties: 7.16%
https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ror/ror-odd-year-2025/historical-reg-stats.pdf

There are two factors that account for the Democrats having 43 Democrats in Congress:
1. They have the 10,367,321 registered voters to republicans 5,776,356. In most of the Democratic districts people live in heavily populated areas along the coast from the Bay area to the Mexican border whereas republican districts in the Northern, Central, and Eastern part of the state which tend to be rural.

2. Like most Congressional districts, voters tend to reelect their Congressional representatives. Therefore, Democrats may represent a Red Congressional district and vice versa. Incumbency has a built in advantage.

California has an independent redistricting commission consisting of five Democrats, five republicans, and four independents. Any registered voter can submit an application to be on the commission. Considering both the Democrats and republicans have equal representation, neither can gerrymander the state. That's why there are four independent commissioners to prevent that from happening.

Any talk that there is gerrymandering in California is simply regurgitating republican talking points (lies).

[dlk]

34. There are degrees of gerrymandering to be considered

Maps should be drawn fairly, according to population numbers, everywhere. That would be democracy.

[sdfernando]

12. Anything that rids of Issa is a go in my book! /nt

[AZ8theist]

19. Took the words right out of my mouth!!!

[LogDog75]

33. I agree1

[DSandra]

20. You never play fair with cheaters and unilaterally disarm

Republican politicians should never be treated fairly, they are essentially like the Orcs of Lord of the Rings and see niceness as weakness.

You never unilaterally disarm with them as well, as they are at war with you and exploit any opening they get.

[pattyloutwo]

22. Newsom is fighting!

He’s earning everything that should come to him 💪

[bucolic_frolic]

26. We need to play hardball. This is a turning point

if we can pull it off.

[hildegaard28]

27. Why not eliminate

All Republican majority districts. No reason to let them have any power at all. All they do is abuse it.

[usonian]

29. I'm feeling blue already.

The next county over flipped blue all on its own in the most recent election.

Hey, Trump.

[Chasstev365]

31. Paging other Blue States...