Politico: “On podcasts and social media, California governor [Gavin Newsom] has threatened that if Texas follows President Donald Trump’s advice and redraws its congressional districts to shore up the GOP’s slender House majority, California should throw out its own maps to boost Democrats, circumventing or overhauling the state’s voter-approved redistricting commission.”
That redistricting commission is required under the state constitution. It is not a suggestion. It is not a recommendation. It is not a “nice to have.” It is a requirement. Any redistricting that comes from any other source is illegal.
The Politico article continues:
He could test a novel legal theory by asking the Legislature to create new maps now, rather than wait for decennial redistricting. Or he could ask voters, who in 2010 resoundingly approved the creation of a non-partisan process, to support a Democratic gerrymander in a state where Republicans hold just nine of 52 seats despite comprising a quarter of the electorate.
The referendum calling for the commission passed with more than 61 percent of the vote, and more than 5.7 million Californians voted for it. And here we are, a decade and a half later, and the ambitious governor is arguing that the redistricting commission, enshrined in the state constitution, ought to be ignored, because in 2024 Democrats won 60 percent of the vote in House elections statewide and yet represent “only” 82.6 percent of the House seats.
When a governor of California is sworn into office, he swears to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.”
Enacting a blatantly unconstitutional redistricting would represent Newsom violating his oath and ample justification for impeachment and removal from office.