Gavin Newsom began Donald Trump's second term with conciliatory gestures but pivoted to aggressive confrontation after Trump targeted California. Newsom responded with all-caps social media posts, lawsuits challenging the new administration, and a redistricting proposal designed to add Democratic seats. He signed a referendum triggering a special election to ask voters to redraw congressional boundaries, aiming to counteract Texas's partisan gerrymander and protect Democratic representation. The rapid 11-week effort could affect control of the US House, influence the 2028 political landscape, and carry major consequences for Newsom's own political future as he eyes national prominence.
In the opening weeks of Donald Trump's second term, Gavin Newsom wagered that peacemaking was best: a tarmac greeting for Air Force One, an Oval Office visit and a podcast slot for Maga's biggest names. But then Trump came for California, and its governor dropped the niceties. With a flood of all-caps social media posts, a counterpunching redistricting proposal and a string of lawsuits challenging the new administration, Newsom is not just taking on Trump, he's stealing his tactics: fight, fight, fight.
On Thursday, he signed a redistricting plan and declared a special election this fall that would ask voters to redraw the state's congressional boundaries to give Democrats as many as five additional US House seats in next year's midterm elections. The ballot measure is a direct attempt to neuter and neutralize Texas's partisan gerrymander engineered at Trump's behest to safeguard Republicans' fragile House majority.
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