Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced a campaign on Thursday to amend California’s constitution and repeal the authority of California’s supposedly independent redistricting commission “temporarily.” In truth, this was Newsom’s unofficial announcement that he will run for president.

“This is a five alarm fire for democracy,” Newsom claimed falsely of Texas Republicans’ plans to push a new congressional map through the Texas legislature. President Donald Trump wants to increase the Republican margin in the Texas congressional delegation from a 12-seat advantage (25-13) to 22 (30-8).

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“Trump’s election rigging comes to an end now. California won’t stand by and watch Trump burn it all down,” Newsom said. “We are calling a special election to redraw our congressional maps and defend fair representation.”

Newsom’s notion of “fair representation” is laughable, for Texas’s new map would still be more equitable than California’s map already is.

In 2024, Trump won 56% of the presidential vote in Texas, and Republicans took 66% of its House seats, a 10-point gap. In California, Vice President Kamala Harris won 59% of the presidential vote, but Democrats captured 82% (43-9) of the House seats, a 24-point gap. The new Texas map would increase the gap in that state between Republican vote and seat share to 23 points.

The new map Newsom proposes would make California’s highly partisan map even more lopsided, boosting Democratic dominance in the House delegation to 92%, a 33-point gap over its presidential vote. This would make Newsom’s California the most extremely gerrymandered state with more than 10 congressional seats.

Californians did not vote for this. The California Citizens Redistricting Commission was created by ballot proposition for statewide offices in 2008 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was expanded to federal offices in 2010. California Democrats tried to repeal it that year but failed. Instead, the Democratic Party co-opted the commission from the inside, making sure its “independent” commissioners drew maps favorable to Democrats. Now, even those biased maps are not biased enough for Newsom.

Newsom will first have to convince the Democratic Party-controlled state legislature to approve a special election this November. That is an easy majority threshold. Then he will have to pass a second bill placing his initiative on the ballot. That will require a two-thirds vote. Democrats have the numbers to do this. They have a monopoly on political power in the state, but they cannot afford many defections.

Newsom’s pollster made his pitch to California Democrats this month, showing them polling that 52% of state voters would approve a measure that “retains” California’s redistricting commission and “declares state policy supporting use of fair non-partisan redistricting nationwide” but that also empowers the California legislature to redraw the congressional map through 2030. Newsom and state Democratic leaders are confident they have the votes to do their dirty work.

The wishes and individual votes of Californians are a different story. A poll from the Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research found that 64% of California voters oppose “returning congressional line drawing authority back to the legislature,” while just 36% support Newsom’s plan.

Newsom’s allies criticize the Citrin poll, saying the language of the ballot initiative, which Newsom controls, explicitly says the redistricting committee will continue to exist but won’t be in charge of creating maps for the next three House elections. Newsom and California Democrats hope California voters see a distinction where there is no difference, an honest endeavor where there is really a deceptive charade.

Newsom was careful to frame the election as a choice between California Democrats and Trump specifically. “California won’t stand by and watch Trump burn it all down,” Newsom said, sounding like the presidential aspirant he obviously intends to be.

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California is a firmly blue state, but perhaps blue-state voters are getting tired of Democrats blaming Trump for all their problems. Trump isn’t the reason California has the highest electricity prices in the nation, nor the highest gas prices, the most homeless people, one of the highest unemployment rates, the highest poverty rate, and the most expensive housing prices. Trump could disappear into thin air tomorrow, and none of California’s many, many problems would be solved.

Trump is not the author of California’s misery, Democrats are. The Democratic Party’s monopoly on power in the state is what has reduced California to its current condition. Newsom is the man in control of that monopoly. Increasing his party’s control of California won’t help Californians. Many of them are starting to realize that.