Will Newsom Rig His Redistricting Referendum?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has cast himself as a defender of democracy in the gerrymandering war that erupted after Texas Democrats fled the Lone Star State in a futile attempt to kill a GOP redistricting plan. This is obviously part of an ongoing effort to bolster his national profile ahead of a probable presidential run, but it has forced him to adopt an Orwellian position on redistricting. Newsom is telling Golden State voters that, to save democracy from evil Republicans, they must allow him to usurp the power of a redistricting commission they voted to create in a 2010 ballot initiative.

Unfortunately for Newsom, a poll of registered California voters released late last week found that his constituents want the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC) left unmolested. As Politico reports, “By nearly a two-to-one margin, voters prefer keeping an independent line-drawing panel to determine the state’s House seats, the latest POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey found. Just 36 percent of respondents back returning congressional redistricting authority to state lawmakers.” Nonetheless, Newsom and California’s legislature — where the Democrats enjoy a supermajority — plan to plow forward. Thursday, Newsom called for a November ballot measure that would allow the state’s congressional map to be redrawn without the inconvenient CCRC. Miraculously, the Governor’s accomplices in the State Assembly and Senate produced a redrawn map by Friday.

If this gerrymandered monstrosity is actually approved by California’s voters in November, the  Golden State’s delegation to the United States House of Representatives would consist of 48 Democrats and 4 Republicans. California is a “blue” state, of course, but there are still a lot of Republicans there. Millions of these voters would be effectively disfranchised by this congressional map. For a sense of how egregious the redrawn map really is, Nick Lindquist provides a useful “before and after” look at what Gov. Newsom and his legislature have wrought. As Hoover Institution fellow Lanhee J. Chen explains in the Los Angeles Times:

If Newsom gets his way, California’s districts for the 2026 midterm will ensure the election of as few Republicans as possible. Recent reports suggest that his gerrymander will mean Republicans win only four out of 52 House seats (9%), compared with the current California delegation, which includes nine Republicans (17%). Republicans make up about 25% of California’s registered voters and statewide Republican candidates have won roughly 40% of the vote over the last few election cycles.