California Governor Gavin Newsom is a desperate little man.
Legal Insurrection has been following his exploits to maintain his rapidly diminishing relevancy, as he is term-limited and is currently ending his reign administration in 2026. And while the frantic need for media attention has been laughable, his team’s latest move is nothing short of embarrassing.
Newsom’s press office published an all-caps Trumpian-style X post, promoting a frenzied letter in which Newsom threatens Trump about redistricting California if Texas proceeds to redraw its congressional district boundaries. It ends with Trump’s new signature line: Thank you for your attention to his matter.
The letter itself is a doozy.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned President Donald Trump on Monday that he will push to redraw his state’s congressional district maps if Trump does not call on Texas and other Republican-led states to end efforts to redraw their own districts.“You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make,” Newsom, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to Trump.Newsom said the GOP-led states are seeking to redesign their congressional maps to “rig the upcoming midterm elections” to benefit Republican candidates.If the Republican majority in the Texas legislature is successful in redrawing district maps, it is expected to give their party an additional five seats in the House of Representatives.
However, the reality is that the states themselves are leading the redistricting efforts. I suspect Red States are tired of the power-grab that Blue State gerrymandering has wrought. While making Trump a target of this rant may be red meat to TDS-sufferers and the media, there are other governors and their legislatures who have decided that reworking their own districts would be in the best interest of their states.
A revised Ohio map could prove to be most interesting.
Under Ohio’s current map, Republicans hold 10 congressional districts while Democrats hold five. But three of Democrats’ seats are in districts that are competitive, thanks to the mix of voters who live in them. So Republicans could greatly increase their chances of picking up those three seats by tweaking the lines.
And if Newsom starts complaining, Red State governors can point to the gerrymandered glory that is California.
Why should their citizens be deprived of congressional representation because of Newsom’s weak threats and Blue State arrogance?
In reality, there are only two states Newsom controls: California and Confusion. In addition to this fact, there are constitutional limits to California’s redistricting processes. Newsom’s plan would require a temporary override of California’s independent redistricting commission, with voter approval needed for any new, legislature-drawn maps to take effect for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections.
Currently, the state constitution has many requirements related to the mapping of districts. The following items make Newsom’s threat even weaker than it was to begin with:
The push-back to Newsom’s plan has been fierce.
If Newsom thinks Trump-hate will carry him to the White House, he might want to ask fellow Californian Kamala Harris how that idea worked out for her.
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