Democrats release plan to boost party’s California US House seats in fight for Congress

LOS ANGELES (AP) – In a display of cutthroat yet calculated politics, Democrats unveiled a proposal Friday that could give California’s dominant political party an additional five U.S. House seats in a bid to win the fight to control Congress next year.

The plan calls for an unusually timed reshaping of House district lines to greatly strengthen the Democratic advantage in the state ahead of midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending the party’s fragile House majority.

It amounts to a counterpunch to Texas, where the GOP is trying to add five seats to its House delegation at the urging of President Donald Trump as he tries to avoid losing control of Congress and, with it, prospects for his conservative agenda in the later part of his term.

If approved by voters in a November election, the California blueprint could nearly erase Republican House members in the nation’s most populous state. The Democratic plan is intended to win the party 48 of its 52 U.S. House seats, up from 43 currently.

The proposal was released by the campaign arm of House Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Democrats in the state Legislature will hold hearings and plan to vote on the new maps next week.

“This is about more than drawing lines on a map. It’s about drawing a line in the sand to stop Texas and Trump from rigging the election,” state Senate Democratic leader Mike McGuire said in a statement.

While a general notion behind drawing districts is to unite what’s called communities of interest – neighborhoods and cities that share similar concerns or demographic traits – the proposed remapping would create a jigsaw of oddly shaped districts to maximize Democratic clout.

The 1st Congressional District is currently anchored in the state’s conservative far northeast corner and is represented by Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Trump supporter. The district has a nearly 18-point GOP registration edge.

Under the proposal Democrats would end up with a 10-point registration advantage in the district after drastic reshaping to include parts of heavily Democratic Sonoma County near the Pacific Coast.

In a post on the social platform X, LaMalfa called the proposal “absolutely ridiculous.”

In the battleground 41st District east of Los Angeles, represented by long-serving Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, Democratic and Republican registration is currently split about evenly.

But in the redrawn district, Democratic registration would jump to 46%, with GOP registration falling to 26%.

Other Republicans whose districts would see major changes intended to favor Democrats include Reps. Kevin Kiley in Northern California, David Valadao in the Central Valley farm belt and Darrell Issa in San Diego County. Also, embattled Democratic incumbents would see their districts padded with additional left-leaning voters.

The release of the plan came the same day that Texas Republicans began a second special session to approve new congressional maps sought by Trump.

The GOP’s first special session in Texas ended without approving new political maps, thwarted by Democrats who staged a nearly two-week walkout that meant not enough lawmakers were present to pass any legislation. Gov. Greg Abbott then quickly called a second session that started without the necessary quorum to conduct business.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that his state will hold a Nov. 4 special referendum on the redrawn districts.

“We can’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country,” Newsom said.

The announcement marked the first time any state beyond Texas officially waded into Trump’s fight, though several governors and legislative leaders from both parties have threatened such moves.

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who heads the House GOP campaign arm, said Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is “shredding California’s Constitution and disenfranchising voters.”

“Californians oppose Newsom’s stunt because they won’t let a self-serving politician rig the system to further his career,” said Hudson, who heads the National Republican Congressional Committee.

A big risk for Democrats is whether voters will be open to setting aside district boundaries crafted by an independent commission for ones shaped for partisan advantage.

Some people already have said they would sue over the effort. Republican former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a longtime opponent of partisan redistricting, signaled that he will not side with Democrats even after talking to Newsom. He posted a photo of himself Friday at the gym wearing a T-shirt that said, “Terminate gerrymandering,” with a reference to an obscenity and politicians.

“I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,” Schwarzenegger said.

Absent lawmakers have said they will return to Austin once California Democrats take more formal steps on their own redistricting plan.

Trump is trying to avoid a repeat of the 2018 midterms, when the GOP yielded control during his first presidency to a Democratic majority that stymied his agenda and twice impeached him. The nation’s two most populous states have been at the forefront of the resulting battle, which has reached into multiple courtrooms and statehouses controlled by both parties.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows chided colleagues who left Austin, accusing them of “following Gov. Newsom’s lead instead of the will of Texans.” The speaker said, however, that he has “been told” to expect a quorum Monday.

“Let’s be ready to work,” Burrows said, ticking through a litany of issues without mentioning the president or redistricting.

Trump has urged other Republican-run states to redraw maps, even dispatching Vice President JD Vance to Indiana to pressure officials there. In Missouri, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press, the state Senate received a $46,000 invoice to activate six redistricting software licenses and provide training for up to 10 staff members.

Newsom encouraged other Democratic-led states to “stand up – not just California.”

On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing district lines puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. Of the 435 total seats, only several dozen districts are competitive. So even slight changes in a few states could affect which party wins control.

New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census – the last being in 2020. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among those that empowers independent commissions with the task.

If approved, a new California map would take effect only if a Republican state does its own redistricting. It would remain through the 2030 elections. After that, Democrats say, they would return mapmaking power to the independent commission voters approved in 2008.