"First of all, it involved firing at a moving target. Though there was never any doubt Texas Republicans would do as they were told, the actual new congressional map wasn't finally put into place until the end of August, nearly a month after Newsom made his move. Second of all, the time frame was really constrained: any proposed amendment had to clear the California legislature almost instantly, and then survive legal challenges."
"Third of all, the non-partisan citizens redistricting commission that Newsom wanted to push aside was well-established (created by voters in 2008 and extended to congressional redistricting two years later) and widely popular, particularly among Democrats and good government types. And fourth of all, he and his allies would have very little time to raise the vast funds necessary to explain this arcane issue to voters, persuade them to give redistricting (albeit temporarily) back to politicians, and mobilize them to vote in an off-year special election."
"Newsom and his allies (including virtually every Democratic pol in the state, along with national Democratic celebrities and pro-Democratic constituency groups, especially unions) methodically got the job done. They didn't wait for the Texas power grab to be consummated before laying the groundwork for the ballot initiative, making it initially contingent on what happened in the Lone Star State. They went right ahead and secured legislative approval of an actual congressional map, so that voters could see what they were voting for"
Governor Gavin Newsom announced on July 31 a push for a constitutional amendment aimed at retaliating against Texas' gerrymandering. The effort faced multiple obstacles: the Texas map was a moving target, the amendment needed rapid legislative approval and to survive legal challenges, the existing citizens redistricting commission was well-established and popular, fundraising time was short, and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed dismantling the commission. Newsom's allies, including statewide Democrats, national figures, and unions, coordinated a campaign, secured legislative approval of a concrete congressional map, and mobilized voters to approve the temporary redistricting change.
Read at Intelligencer
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