"In July, as Republicans in Texas were pushing, at President Donald Trump's behest, to change the state's maps to net themselves as many as five more U.S. House seats in next year's midterms, Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, warned that his state might feel compelled to respond in kind. "This is not a bluff," he said. In fact, it was-or, at least, it had been at first."
"Texas rammed through its maps, even as Democrats in the state legislature absconded in an attention-grabbing, yet ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to deny quorum. Meanwhile, in California, Mitchell dug into the data and discovered not only that it would be possible to retaliate by drawing five friendlier districts for Democrats but that voters just might approve of the plan. And so Newsom and his allies teed up a ballot measure-known as Proposition 50, or the Election Rigging Response Act-that would ask Californians to sanction a temporary revision of the state's congressional lines,"
Republican lawmakers in Texas pursued map changes aimed at netting up to five additional U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms, prompting talk of a retaliatory response from California. California's governor warned of reciprocity; an initial plan was treated as a bluff because the state's independent redistricting commission limits legislative control. A top California redistricting consultant later reviewed data and found that drawing five friendlier districts for Democrats could be feasible and possibly supported by voters. California leaders proposed Proposition 50 to temporarily revise congressional lines until the independent commission resumes authority after 2030. Texas Democrats' quorum-denial attempt failed.
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