California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) hopes to turn a special election in November on his gerrymandered congressional map into a referendum on President Donald Trump, rather than on his own partisan ambition.
That is the clear picture emerging from his fundraising sources — and from the media, who are falling into line.
Newsom signed bills to place a new congressional map in front of voters in a special election. The new map sets aside the one drawn by a nominally “independent” commission, whose authority was created by the voters in a referendum in 2008, in favor of a map that is explicitly designed to eliminate Republican seats.
The new map would give Democrats at least four additional seats, bringing their total to at least 47 out of California’s 52 seats. Republicans would have fewer than 10% of the seats, despite representing roughly 40% of the electorate.
Newsom intends to rally voters to his side by presenting a vote for the new map as a vote against Trump.
Politico reported Friday: “California’s campaign will be a nationalized referendum on President Donald Trump, with Gov. Gavin Newsom and allies framing it as Democrats’ best chance to thwart the president’s agenda by flipping control of the House despite GOP gerrymandering in red states like Texas ahead of the midterms.”
It is a task that has worked in the past, as when Newsom saved himself from a recall election in 2021. Already, one poll shows that Newsom’s gerrymandering has a plurality — though not a majority — of support from the voters.
Newsom’s goal is not just to help Democrats in the midterm elections, but to boost his own political profile ahead of the 2028 presidential primary.
To that end, Newsom has enlisted familiar Democratic allies such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — and anti-Trump Republicans such as Bill Bloomfield.
Ironically, the California Globe points out, Bloomfield helped push for California’s current, “independent” redistricting commission, but “is planning to now fund the Gavinmandering effort because of his opposition to Trump.”
On the anti-Newsom side, political megadonor Charles Munger Jr., viewed by conservatives as a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only), is donating $10 million to defend the independent system against Newsom’s partisan gerrymander.
If Newsom succeeds, Californians will likely experience political representation that is even more dominated by one party — and therefore less responsive — than ever before.
While Newsom and the Democrats will point the finger at Trump and Texas, which is redistricting to remove several “majority-minority” seats that the Department of Justice says are unconstitutional, the reality is that Democrats have gerrymandered for several decades in a row to eliminate Republican seats in “blue” states.
That means that if Republican-run states retaliate, Democrats stand to lose more seats nationwide than the GOP.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
