Texas Democrats who left the state over redistricting will take part in national demonstration
Activists are holding more than 150 rallies in 34 states over the weekend to call attention to the Texas redistricting issue and President Donald Trump's support for changing congressional maps. The goal is to send a message that 'we see what Trump is doing, and we won't stand for it,' according to a statement from organizers.
The Texas Democrats, and members of the party nationwide, were helped when California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his state would also redistrict in order to counteract Texas' moves. On Friday, California presented its own redrawn map favoring Democrats. The ballot measure, which goes before voters in November, would take effect only if Texas Republicans follow through on their plans.
'Califorina coming on board gives us more options,' said Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu in an interview Friday. 'If California passes a trigger bill, then there will be real incentive for Texas to not pass its [redistricting] bill.'
During the past two weeks, the Texas Democrats have met with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whose team found them hotel rooms — they had to move once after a bomb threat — and a few members of the group also met Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear via Zoom.
The Texans made two trips to California for key meetings in conjunction with Newsom pushing for his state to come up with its own adjusted boundaries for the U.S. House, potentially giving Democrats an edge in Congress in 2026.
Newsom's move 'changed everything,' said state Rep. Sheryl Cole, recalling the sacrifice of leaving her 87-year-old mother behind to watch TV coverage of Abbott threatening FBI arrest warrants. 'It made a difference with the sacrifice.'
Her colleague state Rep. Diego Bernal put it more bluntly: 'When we knew definitively that they were going to do something, it felt like wind. Like something was happening. You feel less isolated.'
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CBS News
15 minutes ago
- CBS News
Texas redistricting battle to start new phase with Democrats expected return to Capitol
For the second week, Republicans and Democrats have continued their showdown over new congressional maps in Texas, which will result in five new GOP-majority districts at the expense of Democrats. But the fight is about to enter a new phase on Monday, Aug. 18. Democrats who broke quorum and left Texas, killed the first special session, and didn't show up for the start of the second special session — many believe they will Monday. Speaker Dustin Burrows said House members must be at the Capitol at noon. Friday, Aug. 15, Burrows ended the first special session after the House once again fell short of a quorum, which requires 100 lawmakers to be present. The Senate ended its first special session, too, and then Governor Greg Abbott called for the start of the second special session, with the same agenda, to start a couple of hours later Friday, at noon. Democrats said they wanted to kill the first special session, which allowed them time to go to other states, such as California, where Governor Gavin Newsom said if Texas approves its new maps, California will do the same to neutralize any GOP gains. "We can't stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country," Newsom said. "We are not bystanders in this world. We can shape the future." The difference there is that voters in California will have to approve it, something that won't happen in Texas. During an unrelated news conference on Friday, Aug. 15, CBS News Texas's Jack Fink asked Gov. Abbott about Newsom's plan. In an exclusive interview, Abbott spoke about his ongoing lawsuit to remove House Democratic Caucus Chairman Gene Wu from office and whether Republicans will try to increase the number of new GOP majority congressional seats to not just five, but as many as eight or more. Abbott said, " They are [Democrats] are required by the Texas Constitution to actually show up and cast votes on bills. That's what the Constitution requires. That's why I'm seeking to remove Gene Wu, because he's not fulfilling his constitutional duty." As for adding more seats, Abbott said, " In reference to the lawsuit, Wu shared his thoughts concerning Abbott and when Democrats will return. For the past couple of weeks, House Republicans have expressed frustration about Democrats breaking quorum. Representative Shelley Luther of Grayson County about the end of the first special session and what she wants to happen next with redistricting. For now, Republicans have proposed adding the same five GOP majority districts in Congress as they have before. Abbott has not added redistricting for State House seats, and he was asked about it. "Every strategy is at play... if we need to," said Abbott. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, of Dallas, said she's considering running in a different Congressional district in North Texas than the one she represents now. In North Texas now, there are three Democrats who serve in Congress, but under the new maps, there will only be two districts. That's because District 32, now represented by Democrat Julie Johnson, will become a Republican majority district and extend to East Texas. District 33, now represented by Democrat Marc Veasey, of Fort Worth, includes both Tarrant and Dallas Counties, but under the new maps, will only be in Dallas County. Crockett said she's considering running in the newly drawn 33rd Congressional District, because her home will be in that district, instead of the 30th District she represents now. Last week, Congressman Veasey and Congresswoman Johnson both said they are focused on the fight against the new maps first, and will then consider their options for re-election. A new poll shows mixed results about how Texans feel about the newly proposed Congressional maps. Regarding the five new GOP majority Congressional seats, the Emerson College poll of 1,000 registered voters in Texas found 36% support the new maps, while 38% oppose them, and 26% are unsure. But when asked if Republicans in Texas are entitled to five more seats, something President Trump said, 40% of those surveyed said they agreed, 38% disagreed, and 22% were neutral. Burrows signed civil arrest warrants against the Democrats who broke quorum. The new poll showed 41% agreed they should be arrested, 37% disagreed, and 22% were neutral. And in the bitter Republican primary for the Texas Senate race, the poll found 30% support for incumbent Senator John Cornyn, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton one point behind at 29%. Five percent said they want someone else, and 37% are undecided. Previous polls have shown Paxton leading Cornyn.
San Francisco Chronicle
44 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: Democrats are running state into the ground. Why would you want more of them in office?
If Gov. Gavin Newsom succeeds in getting a redistricting measure passed that will favor Democrats, California will suffer. All red states will retaliate and legislate Democrats out of Congress, while California remains deep blue. It will be another victory of virtue signaling over results, something Newsom has excelled at throughout his career. But it will cement Democrats' absolute dominance in state politics and crush Republican resistance. If Republicans ever get smart enough to offer candidates that aren't welded to President Donald Trump's stern and offer realistic solutions to the state's problems, I'm ready to vote for one — and I'm a Democrat. Democratic voters must ask themselves, are you better off than you were 14 years ago? By any objective measure, the world's fourth-largest economy is a failed state. It has some of the country's highest taxes, insurance rates, poverty rates, utility rates and homeless population, but is ranked near the bottom in education, despite wasted billions. Larry Bothen, Pacifica Create a new New Deal I worry about the Democrats. Oh, I'm all for fighting fire with fire. But getting down and dirty with the Republicans is not a program. Democrats have to tackle the problems that threaten America and the human race. And that involves doing everything differently from President Donald Trump. This is not the time to shrink the role of government. We need to invest in our future — in science, education and health care; we need to create new green technologies that can enable us to make peace with our stressed-out planet. The Democrats have to resuscitate the values of the New Deal. In order to get everybody on board, we need to better share our country's great wealth. One lesson we have learned from Trump: If people feel the American Dream is beyond their reach, they are easy targets for demagogues. Saving democracy and a commitment to care about each other go hand in hand. Matthew Hallinan, Berkeley Make U.S. truly great The Jeffrey Epstein debacle should wake up every citizen in this country to the incompetence of the Trump administration. President Donald Trump seems more interested in fulfilling his own needs and grievances, which are not making America great again, but making this country look ridiculous. Some people have been waiting for someone like him whom they can use for their agenda of furthering their economic interests on the backs of everyone else. I hope that those who optimistically voted for Trump will come to understand how each of them will be personally affected by the cuts to services. Elizabeth Rogers, Alameda
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
News Analysis: Newsom's decision to fight fire with fire could have profound political consequences
Deep in the badlands of defeat, Democrats have soul-searched about what went wrong last November, tinkered with a thousand-plus thinkpieces and desperately cast for a strategy to reboot their stalled-out party. Amid the noise, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has recently championed an unlikely game plan: Forget the high road, fight fire with fire and embrace the very tactics that virtue-minded Democrats have long decried. Could the dark art of political gerrymandering be the thing that saves democracy from Trump's increasingly authoritarian impulses? That's essentially the pitch Newsom is making to California voters with his audacious new special election campaign. As Texas Democrats dig in to block a Republican-led redistricting push and Trump muscles to consolidate power wherever he can, Newsom wants to redraw California's own congressional districts to favor Democrats. His goal: counter Trump's drive for more GOP House seats with a power play of his own. It's a boundary-pushing gamble that will undoubtedly supercharge Newsom's political star in the short-term. The long-game glory could be even grander, but only if he pulls it off. A ballot-box flop would be brutal for both Newsom and his party. The charismatic California governor is termed out of office in 2026 and has made no secret of his 2028 presidential ambitions. But the distinct scent of his home state will be hard to completely slough off in parts of the country where California is synonymous with loony lefties, business-killing regulation and an out-of-control homelessness crisis. To say nothing of Newsom's ill-fated dinner at an elite Napa restaurant in violation of COVID-19 protocols — a misstep that energized a failed recall attempt and still haunts the governor's national reputation. The redistricting gambit is the kind of big play that could redefine how voters across the country see Newsom. The strategy could be a boon for Newsom's 2028 ambitions during a moment when Democrats are hungry for leaders, said Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio. But it's also a massive roll of the dice for both Newsom and the state he leads. 'It's great politics for him if this passes,' Maviglio said. 'If it fails, he's dead in the water.' The path forward — which could determine control of Congress in 2026 — is hardly a straight shot. The 'Election Rigging Response Act,' as Newsom has named his ballot measure, would temporarily scrap the congressional districts enacted by the state's voter-approved independent redistricting commission. Under the proposal, Democrats could pick up five seats currently held by Republicans while bolstering vulnerable Democratic incumbent Reps. Adam Gray, Josh Harder, George Whitesides, Derek Tran and Dave Min, which would save the party millions of dollars in costly reelection fights. But first the Democratic-led state Legislature must vote to place the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot and then it must be approved by voters. If passed, the initiative would have a 'trigger,' meaning the redrawn map would not take effect unless Texas or another GOP-led state moved forward with its own gerrymandering effort. 'I think what Governor Newsom and other Democrats are doing here is exactly the right thing we need to do,' Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said Thursday. 'We're not bringing a pencil to a knife fight. We're going to bring a bazooka to a knife fight, right? This is not your grandfather's Democratic Party,' Martin said, adding that they shouldn't be the only ones playing by a set of rules that no longer exist. For Democrats like Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who appeared alongside Newsom to kick off the effort, there is 'some heartbreak' to temporarily shelving their commitment to independent redistricting. But she and others were clear-eyed about the need to stop a president 'willing to rig the election midstream,' she said. Friedman said she was hearing overwhelmingly positive reactions to the proposal from all kinds of Democratic groups on the ground. 'The response that I get is, 'Finally, we're fighting. We have a way to fight back that's tangible,'' Friedman recounted. Still, despite the state's Democratic voter registration advantage, victory for the ballot measure will hardly be assured. California voters have twice rallied for independent redistricting at the ballot box in the last two decades and many may struggle to abandon those beliefs. A POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab poll found that voters prefer keeping an independent panel in place to draw district lines by a nearly two-to-one margin, and that independent redistricting is broadly popular in the state. (Newsom's press office argued that the poll was poorly worded, since it asked about getting rid of the independent commission altogether and permanently returning line-drawing power to the legislators, rather than just temporarily scrapping their work for several cycles until the independent commission next draws new lines.) California voters should not expect to see a special election campaign focused on the minutia of reconfiguring the state's congressional districts, however. While many opponents will likely attack the change as undercutting the will of California voters, who overwhelmingly supported weeding politics out of the redistricting process, bank on Newsom casting the campaign as a referendum on Trump and his devious effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress. Newsom employed a similar strategy when he demolished the Republican-led recall campaign against him in 2021, which the governor portrayed as a 'life and death' battle against 'Trumpism' and far-right anti-vaccine and antiabortion activists. Among California's Democratic-heavy electorate, that message proved to be extremely effective. 'Wake up, America,' Newsom said Thursday at a Los Angeles rally launching the campaign for the redistricting measure. 'Wake up to what Donald Trump is doing. Wake up to his assault. Wake up to the assault on institutions and knowledge and history. Wake up to his war on science, public health, his war against the American people.' Kevin Liao, a Democratic strategist who has worked on national and statewide campaigns, said his D.C. and California-based political group chats had been blowing up in recent days with texts about the moment Newsom was creating for himself. Much of Liao's group chat fodder has involved the output of Newsom's digital team, which has elevated trolling to an art form on its official @GovPressOffice account on the social media site X. The missives have largely mimicked the president's own social media patois, with hyperbole, petty insults and a heavy reliance on the 'caps lock' key. 'DONALD IS FINISHED — HE IS NO LONGER 'HOT.' FIRST THE HANDS (SO TINY) AND NOW ME — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — HAVE TAKEN AWAY HIS 'STEP,' ' one of the posts read last week, dutifully reposted by the governor himself. Some messages have also ended with Newsom's initials (a riff on Trump's signature 'DJT' signoff) and sprinkled in key Trumpian callbacks, like the phrase 'Liberation Day,' or a doctored Time Magazine cover with Newsom's smiling mien. The account has garnered 150,000 new followers since the beginning of the month. Shortly after Trump took office in January, Newsom walked a fine line between criticizing the president and his policies and being more diplomatic, especially after the California wildfires — in hopes of appealing to any semblance of compassion and presidential responsibility Trump possessed. Newsom had spent the first months of the new administration trying to reshape the California-vs.-Trump narrative that dominated the president's first term and move away from his party's prior 'resistance' brand. Those conciliatory overtures coincided with Newsom's embrace of a more ecumenical posture, hosting MAGA leaders on his podcast and taking a position on transgender athletes' participation in women's sports that contradicted the Democratic orthodoxy. Newsom insisted that he engaged in those conversations to better understand political views that diverged from his own, especially after Trump's victory in November. However, there was the unmistakable whiff of an ambitious politician trying to broaden his national appeal by inching away from his reputation as a West Coast liberal. Newsom's reluctance to readopt the Trump resistance mantle ended after the president sent California National Guard troops into Los Angeles amid immigration sweeps and ensuing protests in June. Those actions revealed Trump's unchecked vindictiveness and abject lack of morals and honor, Newsom said. Of late, Newsom has defended the juvenile tone of his press aides' posts mocking Trump's own all-caps screeds, and questioned why critics would excoriate his parody and not the president's own unhinged social media utterances. 'If you've got issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he's putting out as president,' Newsom said last week. 'So to the extent it's gotten some attention, I'm pleased.' In an attention-deficit economy where standing out is half the battle, the posts sparkle with unapologetic swagger. And they make clear that Newsom is in on the joke. 'To a certain set of folks who operated under the old rules, this could be seen as, 'Wow, this is really outlandish.' But I think they are making the calculation that Democrats want folks that are going to play under this new set of rules that Trump has established,' Liao said. At a moment when the Democratic party is still occupied with post-defeat recriminations and what's-next vision boarding, Newsom has emerged from the bog with something resembling a plan. And he's betting the house on his deep-blue state's willingness to fight fire with fire. Times staff writers Seema Mehta and Laura Nelson contributed to this report.
