(WASHINGTON) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders are set to hold a news conference on Thursday where they’ll make a “major announcement” in response to Republican-led efforts in Texas to redraw the state’s congressional maps.
Newsom said Tuesday night that California will move forward with drawing new congressional maps that “WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY” and allow Democrats to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives. He had previously sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Monday asking the president to tell Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican governors to abandon efforts to draw new congressional maps in Texas, which could help Republicans flip three to five congressional seats if passed.
Republicans currently hold a slim majority in the U.S. House with 219 seats to Democrats’ 212. Other states such as Missouri, Indiana, New York, and Illinois have begun weighing mid-decade redistricting in light of Texas’ effort.
Newsom has floated holding a special election statewide on Nov. 4 for Californians to vote on new congressional maps and temporarily bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission. The California Citizens Redistricting Commission is meant to prevent gerrymandering and partisan influence. Both Democrats and Republicans in the state have expressed concerns over sidelining the commission.
No maps have been released publicly, but multiple legislative sources familiar with the matter told ABC station KGO-TV that five Republican seats would be targeted, going tit-for-tat with Texas.
But if lawmakers don’t declare a special election by Aug. 22, it would be nearly impossible for the state to run a statewide election that meets federal standards or would hold up in a court challenge, according to the office of the California Secretary of State.
Elections officials in California have also pointed to federal deadlines such as the 45-day-pre-election deadline to issue ballots to military and overseas voters, which could make it more technically challenging to run an election on short notice.
Republicans have also cried foul. U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who has proposed a bill that would nullify any new congressional maps introduced before the next U.S. census, told Newsmax on Tuesday, “Gavin Newsom is a unique threat to democracy. He is trying to overturn the will of voters … So I’ve introduced this bill saying this cannot be done. We need to stop Newsom’s scheme in its tracks. And that will also stop this brewing redistricting war from breaking out across the country, which I don’t think is going to be a good thing.”
Newsom’s gambit comes as Democratic state legislators in Texas remain outside of the state in an effort to run out the clock on a special legislative session in Texas that is considering new maps by denying quorum.
Abbott said Wednesday that the House of Representatives would be willing to “get to work” if Democrats returned to Texas for the second special session Friday but are keeping all options on the table if they don’t come back.
“If they show up, great, we’ll get to work and get all these bills passed. If they don’t show up, we’ll continue with the law enforcement efforts to try to track them down, arrest them and take them to the Capitol, but we will be ready either way,” he told Texas-based radio host Mark Davis.
Texas House Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Gene Wu, in a statement Wednesday afternoon, said that another special legislative session in the Texas legislature could be “a reset moment” for getting aid to victims of the flooding in central Texas – but he placed the onus on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Wu wrote, “This could be a reset moment: a chance to finally deliver real solutions for flood victims and fix the broken emergency preparedness system that continues to put every community in Texas at risk … ready to fight for flood relief, defend our communities, and invest in the safety Texans deserve. Will the Governor finally work with us for our families in the Second Special Session?”
ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd and KGO-TV’s Monica Madden contributed to this report.
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