CALIFORNIA—On August 5, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger chastised Governor Gavin Newsom after he publicly announced his plans to redraw California’s congressional maps prior to the 2026 election. Schwarzenegger accused Newsom of Gerrymandering, telling Newsom, “I will be back.”
Daniel Ketchell, a spokesperson for Schwarzenegger explained Schwarzenegger’s stance to Politico.
“He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people. He’s opposed to what Texas is doing, and he’s opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing.’
On July 25, Governor Newsom hosted leadership in Sacramento from the Texas State Legislature who are fighting against President Trump’s efforts to assign more State Representatives to the second largest state (Alaska is the first) in the country.
Newsom’s meeting came one day after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued the following statement in a press release after a panel of three Texas State Judges in San Antonio rejected efforts to require the state of Texas to get permission from the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the courts to begin redistricting the state to better represent the population.
“This court ruling is a win for our Constitution and the right of Texans to govern themselves. The plaintiffs’ requests for bail-in were based on plans that were adopted by the Legislature in 2011, never used in any state election, and repealed more than six years ago. We are thankful that today’s decision finally puts an end to this baseless challenge.’
This is an effort to get proper representation from heaviest populated states. As it currently stands, states that are very conservative, like Texas, have large cities, like Houston is a big college town, with many Democrats. Pennsylvania is the same way. There are many conservative pockets in Keystone State that don’t get proper representation. The Democratic population in Pittsburgh are casting votes for the state.
The same holds true for New York. A person, traveling through upstate New York toward Niagara Falls will see American flags, and conservative signs along the roadways all the way to Canada, but not in New York City. The big cities are casting votes for all Redistricting has to do with having an honest representation for the entire state.
Newsom has openly stated his plans to redistrict California, he has also stated that,
he would not act on this, unless Texas did it first.
