SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Democratic lawmakers have left Texas in an effort to block Republicans from voting on a redistricting plan that could add as many as five congressional seats for the GOP, potentially securing their narrow majority in Congress.
The redistricting fight in Texas could have significant implications for California, where Democrats are threatening to respond with their own redistricting efforts.
California has 52 congressional districts with Democrats holding 43 seats and Republicans holding only nine.
If Texas proceeds with its redistricting plan, California leaders have threatened to reduce Republican representation in the state further.
"If they can't win by playing the game with the existing set of rules, they'll change the rules. That's what Donald Trump has done. He's dialing for seats. Familiar because he dialed for votes in the last election," Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday evening.
Newsom claims President Trump is working to secure the Republican Party's future through redistricting strategies.
The governor says he'll ask voters to decide on new districts in November ahead of the midterm elections in 2026.
Redistricting typically happens every 10 years after the U.S. Census — but Texas could ignite a domino effect across the country if the states decide to respond accordingly.
Paula Whitsell, Chairwoman of the Republican Party of San Diego County, said this political maneuvering isn't unprecedented.
"It's been tried before, it's been tried by the Democrats. So what's unusual about this is that the Republicans are now following the court order in Texas, for example, to do the redistricting there, but this is not anything new. Every side is going to try to create an advantage for their side," Whitsell said.
More local Republican leaders warn that any redistricting in California could further erode GOP representation in the state and undermine California's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, established by voters in 2010.
"So not only is gerrymandering going to hurt Republican representation in California, Gavin Newsom wants to take it even further and eliminate up to five more seats," Corey Gustafson, former Chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego said, "That would cut our congressional delegation in half, sending Republican representatives in Washington DC, only 9% of our representatives."
Representative Darrell Issa, whose San Diego district could be directly affected, expressed opposition to Newsom's proposal.
In a statement, Issa said in part: "A partisan political gerrymander is NOT what the voters of California want as they clearly stated when they passed the VOTERS FIRST Act and participated in the Citizens Redistricting Commission process. As it stands, Republicans only hold nine congressional seats out of 52 despite winning 38% of the vote statewide. It’s a shame that Governor Newsom and the radical Left in Sacramento are willing to spend $200 million on a statewide special election, while running a deficit of $20 billion, in order to silence the opposition in our state."
ABC 10News reached out to the Democrats of San Diego County for comment on the redistricting battle and will update when they respond.