Exclusive: Inside Newsom's ‘no regrets' strategy in fighting Trump, Texas

The Hill

2 days ago

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking on what he calls a 'no regrets strategy,' saying he must 'fight fire with fire' in countering the Trump-led redistricting efforts in Texas.
In exclusive comments made to The Hill, Newsom said he is feeling 'very confident' about moving forward with his own redistricting plan, as the California legislature returns to session next week.
And while he acknowledged it's 'never a slam dunk,' he said he is optimistic about the signs of 'public unity' on the issue from legislature leadership in his state.
'[The] biggest risk is not taking one,' Newsom said to The Hill. '[President] Trump doesn't deserve the passivity, acquiescence. Democracy demands we at least try, eyes wide open, recognize the stakes.'
'I'm a longtime believer in independent redistricting, with receipts,' the governor said, acknowledging that 'these are not normal times.'
'As Lincoln said, 'The facts are new, we must think anew, we must act anew.''
Newsom sent a letter to Trump on Monday warning that if the president does not call off redistricting efforts in Texas, California would move forward with redistricting its own congressional lines to favor Democrats, nullifying any seats Republicans could gain.
'If you will not stand down, I will be forced to lead an effort to redraw the maps in California to offset the rigging of maps in red states,' Newsom wrote in the letter. 'But if the other states call off their redistricting efforts, we will happily do the same. And American democracy will be better for it.'
'You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make,' Newsom added in the letter. 'This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy.'
When the California legislature returns from summer recess next week, Newsom will need a super-majority in each house to move forward with a special election later this year. A redrawn congressional map for 2026, 2028, and 2030 would be on the ballot, after which California would return to its independent commission, Newsom told The Hill.
In his comments to The Hill, Newsom said he was taking the action to stop Trump, saying that he and his party shouldn't be 'bystanders watching our Democracy slip out from under our collective grasp.'
'We have agency and will ask voters to exercise it,' he said.
The redistricting move is one in a string of resistance efforts he has led since Trump took office earlier this year, publicly contesting the administration while his name is bandied about as a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
Political observers say his next moves in the redistricting fight could be pivotal in steering his political future.
'If he counters the Texas power grab by nullifying or even perhaps exceeding the number of seats that they steal, he will be an instant national hero to Democrats, no doubt about it,' said long-time Democratic strategist Garry South, who is based in California and worked on Newsom's 2010 campaign for governor.
'Democrats nationally are desperately looking for someone to get in Trump's face and to take strong actions to counter his authoritarian moves, and this would be about as strong a counter move as any governor could take, and it would have instant national political implications.'
'Governors do a lot of things in their states that they brag about if they run for president. 'I started a program here. I signed a bill there.' But very few of those successes have had national political import, and this certainly would,' South added.
An Emerson College poll out earlier this month showed Newsom in third place for the Democratic nomination in 2028, with 10 percent of the vote. He trailed former Vice President Kamala Harris, who had 12 percent, and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who led the field of would-be candidates with 17 percent.
Newsom has distinguished himself as a competitive option in polls since Trump took office and even more so since June, when the governor publicly fought Trump over sending the National Guard into LA when anti-ICE protests erupted across the city.
But some operatives say Newsom can't push too hard or do too much. They say he has to walk a fine line between countering Trump and acting to advance his personal political aspirations.
'If this is seen as a 'Newsom special,' it fails,' said one California political operative who is close to the Newsom administration. 'If it's seen as good governance, it might win.
'What's more likely to resonate with voters is Trump's awful track record with California and the threat of two more years of his unchecked clown show,' the operative added.
Strategists have little doubt that with anti-Trump messaging, the redistricting ballot measure would pass with flying colors among California voters, especially those who turn out for special elections in the state.
'In an odd year special election in California, the turnout is always more blue. It's older, it's better educated, it's better informed,' South said. 'This will simply be a vote to screw Trump and to some degree, Texas, the state that Californians love to hate.
'You have a double whammy here. You have Trump and you have Texas. Two T's, I guess you could call it,' South added.
But political observers say that whether or not Newsom succeeds, the effort is still politically advantageous for him and Democrats more broadly.
'It's okay to put up a fight and lose because people understand right now the system is not set up for the non-Trump party to win anywhere,' said Christina Bellantoni, the director of the University of Southern California's Annenberg's Media Center.
'No Democrat that wants to be instrumental in nominating the next presidential nominee…wants somebody that's just gonna sit around.'
'They want a fighter,' Bellantoni added. 'Come on now. This is not about compromise or making deals. This is about putting up a fight. And putting up that fight, surely you might lose.'
But in his comments to The Hill, Newsom said he is well aware of the stakes for democracy – and his political ambitions.
Still, he added, 'If it fails, we did what we could.'