Manipulation of voting districts by Gavin Newsom, aiming to seize more power, disregarding Californians' interests
California Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing for a redistricting of House districts in California, a move that is perceived as an attempt to solidify his image as a strong opponent of the GOP. The redistricting drive, however, has sparked controversy and a lawsuit by Republicans who argue it violates the state Constitution.
The state law that put redistricting in the hands of a citizen-led independent commission was written by voters to cut politicians out of the process. However, Democrats are now rushing to pass a new proposal to rewrite the law through 2030, giving legislators the right to redraw districts again whenever another state does.
The new proposal requires voter approval in a special election set for November 4. Polling early this month showed that voters prefer to stick with the independent commission by a ratio of 2:1.
The redrawn map unveiled by state lawmakers aims to move Democrats from 43 to 48 seats out of 52 total. This move comes amidst a decline in the Democratic Party's voter base, with the party losing more than 2 million registered voters to the GOP from Election Day 2020 to Election Day 2024, and an additional 200,000 in the nine months since.
The redistricting drive in California is compared to "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic", with critics arguing that it is a waste of time and money, with no hope of reversing the Democratic Party's decline. Millions of dollars are being spent on nonstop TV ads to sell voters on the gerrymandering proposal, but no specific details about these ads have been made public.
Republicans won nearly 40% of the statewide House vote in 2024, but only got about 17% of the seats due to the current "nonpartisan" map being skewed. The Republicans are suing to stop the redistricting, arguing that it is a violation of the state Constitution regarding the rushed passage of the proposal.
The redistricting drive in Texas is also mentioned, but no specific details are provided about it. The specific names of the Democratic party leaders in California directly involved in implementing Governor Newsom's efforts to pursue redistricting are not stated in the search results, but Governor Newsom himself is the key Democratic figure leading this attempt. The broader state Democratic leadership supporting him is implied but not named explicitly in the sources.
The outcome of this redistricting drive and the lawsuit by Republicans remains to be seen, but it is clear that the issue is a hot topic in California politics.
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