Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting push
 

Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting push
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/0...cting-00487541

The governor has vigorously embraced the party’s push to counter a GOP-friendly Texas gerrymander by buoying Democrats in blue states.

“I’m not going to sit back any longer in the fetal position, a position of weakness, when in fact California can demonstrably advance strength," Gov. Gavin Newsom said. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

By*Jeremy B. White07/31/2025 06:05 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he will seek to call a November special election to have voters approve new House maps that boost Democrats.

By embracing a public vote, Newsom teed up*a nationalized contest*that opens a prominent front in national Democrats’ efforts to thwart President Donald Trump’s agenda. Newsom has vigorously embraced the party’s push to counter a GOP-friendly Texas gerrymander by buoying Democrats in blue states like California, arguing Trump has left the party no choice.

“I’m not going to sit back any longer in the fetal position, a position of weakness, when in fact California can demonstrably advance strength,” Newsom said at an unrelated news conference.

It would be an enormously expensive and politically perilous campaign. Newsom would be counting on Democrats’ anti-Trump message overcoming voters’ reluctance to return power to politicians for an explicitly partisan exercise.

Newsom and his allies would need to raise monumental sums on a tight timeline so they could inform and turn out voters. And while they could tap into a national network, Trump and conservative opponents could be motivated to wade into the race to rebuke Newsom and the national party.

State lawmakers would also need to go along with the plan. Putting a measure on the ballot would require a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature, and while Democrats wield the necessary supermajorities, Newsom is pushing them into uncertain political terrain.

Sacramento would likely draw new maps in coordination with California’s House delegation, seeking to make Republican-held seats more competitive for Democratic challengers without shifting so many voters out of other districts that it imperils frontline Democrats.

The governor’s remarks were his most detailed yet since*he first vowed to counter Texas’ GOP-buoying gerrymander*by having California redraw its boundaries. Newsom had formerly said he was also considering having the Democratic-dominated Legislature simply draw new maps, circumventing the voters who enshrined an independent commission in 2010.

But Newsom backed away from that option Thursday, signaling he would prefer to put the issue to voters. He said the new maps would remain in place for the next three election cycles, after which the commission would draw new lines as scheduled.

“We’re not here to eliminate the [independent redistricting] commission,” Newsom said. “We’re here to provide a pathway in ’26, ’28, and in 2030 for congressional maps on the basis of a response to the rigging of the system of the president of the United States.”

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

LFG! Newsom is the leadership we need and is not afraid to sink to Republican levels of playing dirty and calling them out.

He's survived a recall, which did NOT get enough people in the state to vote for his recall. CA Republicans hate him, but the people of CA, including me, WANT HIM.

I will gladly be voting for him for president next election of he runs.

#MAGATears

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

If Newsom can get this done, he will be the leader of the Democratic Party. The fighter they need so badly. But this is a long shot. The change would need to be approved by voters.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

They are afraid of Newsom. In my opinion he should've ran for president in the last election and it would've been an incredible blowout. Kamala lost handily to Biden and represented a continuation of the same. She barely had any votes in the primaries against Biden.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

How is this related to DACA?

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

Must be hard being a MAGA, never being the brightest in the trailer park.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

Gavin Newsom pulls this off and he's president in 2028. Democrats just need to see someone who can take out MAGA. Newsom trolling is next level. Man got wit and sarcasm to roast Vance on every platform they go on.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

In MAGA world, he's Einstein.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

It's not only Texas, Supreme Court will be hearing a case about Lousian redistricting that could undermine the Voting Rights Act.

Full Article

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

I think Newsom would have a hard time winning a national election because California is a state people love to hate on. His candidacy would be a referendum on everything people hate about California: the high cost of living, high crime rate, and illegal immigration are just a few ways his opponents can attack him.

Andy Beshear has a better chance in my opinion... He can carry the blue vote, and his connection to a red state might help him convert some red state voters. If he is paired with a swing state running mate, PA AZ, GA... it might be enough.

It is too early to say, but right now, Dems are in serious need of a leader and someone to unite the party.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

I would agree. Beshear should be the one leading the ticket. I am concern that the Democrats may want to give Kamala "another chance" or select Pette Buttigieg as their next candidate. If either of those 2 get chosen as a nominee, we can kiss the 2028 election good-bye.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

If JD Vance gets elected... 8 years of ICE storm

Holy moly.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

If Democrats want to win, they must do the following:

1. No more woman candidates. (They played the woman card twice and lost.)
2. No gay candidates. (Pete Buttigieg will not be able to win a general election. If America wasn't ready for a woman President, they sure won't be ready for a gay President.)
3. No California candidates. (I love CA, but the rest of the Country isn't ready to follow their lead.)
4. No woke candidates. (Americans want to hear how they can afford food on the table, they could care less about your pronouns or having men playing in women's sport.)

If Democrats can avoid any of these 4 things, they may have a good chance at winning in 2028.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

FINALLY, Copper. We agree on something.

As much as I would love Newsom as a candidate, he does have a lot of baggage. I just want Dems to win. Needs someone highly electable.
It might be a lesser burden on Dems since Republican dislike is going to be at an all-time high, making the bar Dems need to clear a bit lower

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

Agreed.

The Democrats need a Straight White Christian Male (SWCM) Presidential candidate to have any chance of winning 2028.
The VP Candidate should also be the same.

Then, they should strongly focus on the Economy.

No stupid stuff like focusing on Transgender Politics.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

That's unfortunately a smooth brained take. While Newsom is a complete whore who will say whatever he needs to truth to the matter is that democrats needs to focus on driving the turnout of their core supporters. Both Harris and Clinton tried to court the mythical swing voters, never-Trump republicans, and they both got wrecked. Harris paraded Liz Cheney around like she's the running mate (late in the campaign only thing missing was a nice cuck chair for Walz to sit in the corner) and her wishy washy stance on Gaza that then got spun into two different sets of attack adds.

Look at the NYC mayoral primary where Mamdani, a self-described socialist came out of nowhere and whooped Cuomo's ass. Israel somehow got forced into the issues for a local seat and his take on Israel didn't lose him any supporters because turns out that the average democrat feels a lot more for Gazans.

Now Newsom leap-frogged everyone else in the run for the democratic nomination in 2028 by calling for CA and other democratic states to pay in kind to Texas trying to gerrymander its districts further. Especially that he's got a concrete plan to achieve that - throw the amendment into a special election and if that fails just do it regardless in 2026 so the state supreme court will have the way out of shaking a stick at the new map but let it stand because it's too late to redo the ballots now. At least the dude is a scrapper and a scrapper is what the party needs.

Remember - aside in races involving some statistically anomalous popular politicians (e.g. Beshear (KY), Hogan (MD), Scott (VT)) most just vote straight ticket and that generally doesn't carry up, KY wouldn't vote for Beshear for president or senator, MD wouldn't vote for Hogan for senate either.
Elections are decided who has a bigger showing and demotivated voters will put the campaign sign in and then feel tired on election day and sit it out, or neglect to fill in and send in their ballot. With how thin the margins in some states have been, if that extra 1% turned up it'd flip.
Swing voters are basically a myth at this point. Everyone is polarized.
The never Trumpers are in the end of the day republicans, they just wish to return to the traditional Tea Party days, they'll either not vote, vote for a libertarian if one is running, or write in the late John McCain.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

Well said, is time to Feel Bern! He will go all the way this time

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

He eighty fucking three years old and has never accomplished anything except moving "pie in the sky" voters out of line causing Ds to lose major elections they could have won. Give it a rest.

Time for the D party voting base to fall in line just like the R voting base does. R voters shut the hell up and vote for the majority candidate in their party. Period.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

Dems: party of the coastal elite, Woke, LGBTQ+, recent migrants.

GOP: party of the upper middle class, suburban wives, working men.

Dems might be done for generations.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

It's so sad to see how bad you want to be a Proud Boy.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

Retarded take. GOP is the party of the impoverish and uneducated and the rich.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

I saw one of Beshear interviews. He seems proper and boring. Doesn't have that bully energy that Newson has been bring. If he can pull off the CA gerrymandering, he's going to be president. He would bully the fuck out of Vance and has the charisma that Harris lacked in interviews. Man started his presidential run 4 years early. Unless the economy soars all the way until 2028, Vance is a dead man walking.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

I think Trump knows the jig is up. His supporters know they've been bamboozled. So the goal is to try and do as much as possible before he becomes a lame duck after mid terms.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

Now am I the one agreeing with you on something? :-P

I have to agree and add that Bernie Sanders was probably the best thing that ever happened to the Republican Party for all the wrong reasons. He managed to turn the Democratic party’s base away by making empty promises that were never going to happen.

Bernie was like that student running for class president, saying, “If I win, you’ll have no homework, free lunches, and seven hours of recess,” and people just bought it, even though it was never realistic.

Sure, he can tap into the pain everyday Americans are feeling, but he sells his solutions with unrealistic ideas that many see as “socialism.” When it comes to Bernie and the "Squad", it’s time for them go away for a while.

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

<3<3<3

Re: Gavin Newsom floats November special election for his anti-Trump redistricting pu
 

The castration of Dementia Don begins today.