California can never win a race to the bottom with Trump on redistricting

San Francisco Chronicle​

3 days ago

If California's ruling Democrats were wise, they'd use this moment to introduce reforms that would enhance democracy — and even boost Republican representation in California's Legislature and congressional delegation.
But they're not that smart. Instead, Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading his state and the national Democratic Party into a contest of anti-democratic tactics with MAGA Republicans. For starters, this is a competition over which side can best exploit the legislative redistricting process to lock up Congressional seats in the 2026 election.
That's a contest that Californians simply can't win. We're never going to out-autocrat or out-authoritarian President Donald Trump.
Why would we ever want to?
Newsom answers that question with what he and other Democrats claim is hard-headed realism. Trump is trying to gerrymander Texas and GOP states to steal U.S. House seats and retain MAGA control of Congress. So, Newsom says, blue states must 'fight fire with fire' and gerrymander to steal additional seats of their own.
Fighting Trump is righteous, but this strategy is a loser, for several reasons.
The first is practical: It won't work. Republicans control more state legislatures (28) than Democrats (18), and thus have more opportunities to gerrymander more seats in their favor. Escalating the gerrymandering fight will produce more Democratic losses.
Second, it's legally and constitutionally risky. California's independent citizens redistricting commission, which draws lines based on keeping communities together (rather than politics), was approved by voters and is popular. Newsom, by gerrymandering, would replace the commission's map with legally dubious ones. California's own courts could find Newsom's move unconstitutional. And California voters could block the maps in a special election — and then punish the Democrats for their anti-democratic behavior in the 2026 election.
Even worse, using anti-democratic tactics against Trump validates his authoritarianism. The fight against Trump shouldn't become just another partisan battle between Democrats and Republicans. Instead, it must be framed as a fight between democratic self-government and a would-be dictator.
To win that contest, California must demonstrate that it is a leader — a major global actor, relentlessly committed to freedom and democracy, despite attacks from the fascist American government. But Newsom's gerrymandering gambit diminishes California, making us just another large state with a dominant political party using its might to determine election outcomes.
So, what should California do instead?
The only way to beat the awful MAGA authoritarians is by enhancing democracy — and showing a commitment to empowering the people, even if it brings your side political costs. A true democracy is one where even political losers feel like winners.
Which is why Newsom and state leaders should make California more democratic, not less. And they should demonstrate that with reforms that would give Republicans more democratic representation in California.
First, California and its Democrats should enact proportional representation, the fairest way to divide up legislative seats. Right now, Republicans get about 40% of the votes for Congress and the Legislature in California, but they have less than one-quarter of the representatives. That's because the current winner-take-all system awards each legislative district only one representative.
A proportional system would allocate representation based on voting percentage and would likely give the GOP 40% of the seats, nearly doubling the percentage of today's Republican minorities in the Legislature and Congress.
National Democrats would go crazy at boosting Republicans. But so what? National Democrats never get strategy right. Right now, turning the other cheek — enhancing democracy instead of engaging in anti-democratic war — would be the real gangster move.
It would awaken a country all too accustomed to endless political escalations. And it would demonstrate that California, at least, is dedicated to fighting for democratic representation for all. Even some Republicans would be impressed and appreciative.
Second, California should combine proportional representation with the elimination of rules that make it hard for smaller political parties to form and compete in politics. This change would reduce the power of MAGA because Republicans who don't like Trump could form separate parties.
Dividing Californians into more parties would inspire political coalition-making. And it would avoid a war over redistricting that distracts from the righteous fights we need to have.
While Democratic politicians obsess about gerrymandering and their own seats, they are failing to provide Californians the protections we need right now.
The state has done far too little to mitigate against Trump's budget cuts and dismantling of federal agencies. California law enforcement is failing to investigate and hold accountable the federal agents acting as secret police on our streets.
When will California leaders go on offense? Why aren't we taking the fiscal fight to Trump by seizing federal property or organizing tax strikes? Where are the initiatives to establish legal autonomy or even nationhood for California?
Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zócalo Public Square.