Fleeing Texas Dems side with Newsom as redistricting standoff continues: ‘All out war'
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is ready to fight 'fire with fire' as state Republican lawmakers try to enact redistricting in Texas, opposing the move though promising to pursue similar measures if needed.
At a press conference on Monday, Newsom said he supports independent redistricting, as well as a national framework, and a proposal being advanced in the legislature reinforces what he supports.
'The proposal that we're advancing with the legislature has a trigger only if they move forward, to dismantling the protocols that are well-established,' the governor said. 'Would the state of California move forward in kind? Fighting? Yes, fire with fire.'
When asked about a meeting between California Democrats on Sunday night, during which time they drafted or were almost done with the draft of redistricting maps, and whether he had seen those maps, Newsom said he had not.
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But he said there has been an ongoing series of conversations into the evening last night, which continued on Monday morning and will continue until Democrats land on a process.
'That process has to have the concurrence, the support of two-thirds of the legislature,' he said. 'The maps, we believe, should be transparent. They should be provided in a transparent way to the public, and as a consequence, those maps are being processed and will be brought to light.'
6 California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference with Texas lawmakers at the Governor's Mansion on July 25, 2025 in Sacramento, California.
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At the end of the day, though, Newsom said the people of California will have the ultimate say.
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'We will offer them the opportunity to make judgments for themselves, again, only if Texas moves forward,' Newsom said. 'I'll reinforce that we believe it should be a national model, independent national redistricting, and it would revert back to its original form, but it's done in response to the existential realities that we're now facing. Things have changed, facts have changed, so we must change.'
'They've triggered this response and we're not going to roll over and we're going to fight fire with fire, but we're going to do so not just punching with the weight of the fourth largest economy, the most populous state in our union, the size of 21 state populations combined,' he continued. 'We also will punch above our weight in terms of the impact of what we're doing, and I think that should be absorbed by those in the Texas delegation. Whatever they are doing will be neutered here in the state of California, and they will pay that price.'
6 California Gov. Gavin Newsom met with Texas lawmakers to push back on Texas's redistricting maneuver that aims to tilt the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections and on how California plans to respond.
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California GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin told Fox News Digital that Newsom's actions could threaten the constitutional rights of Californians while also setting a dangerous precedent.
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'While Governor Newsom frames this redistricting as a defensive move, it undermines California's nationally respected, voter-approved Citizens Redistricting Commission, and if successful, sets a dangerous precedent that voters' choices can be overruled whenever politicians find it politically convenient,' Rankin said. 'Our primary concern is safeguarding Californians' constitutional rights against partisan manipulation disguised as defending democracy; true democracy means empowering voters, not politicians, to decide representation.'
Dozens of Texas Democrats fled their state and went to Chicago and New York on Sunday night in an effort to block a redistricting vote on Monday.
6 President Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott participate in a round table event at the Hill Country Youth Event Center to discuss last week's flash flooding on July 11, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has since threatened to arrest and expel the lawmakers if they do not return by Monday afternoon.
Shortly after Abbott released his statement, the Texas House Democratic Caucus issued a simple response, writing: 'Come and take it.'
The statement also described Republicans' proposed districts, which would potentially secure five new GOP US House seats in next year's midterm elections, as a 'racist mid-decade redistricting scheme.'
Abbott criticized the Democrats' dramatic departure, saying that 'real Texans don't run from a fight.'
On Monday evening, Illinois lawmakers hosted Texas Democrats for a press conference, during which time none of the lawmakers took a single question from the press.
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6 Abbott speaks to a group of event attendees for his Parent Empowerment Night event where he advocated for school choice and vouchers at Temple Christian School in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 6, 2025.
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Still, Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., welcomed her colleagues and said they could stay as long as they wanted because they believed in what they were doing.
'What you're doing and what…they're trying to do in Texas affects you guys, but it affects the whole country,' she said. 'When you want to remove five Democrats…that hurts us in the House.'
She explained that when there are not enough Democrats, things like the Big Beautiful Bill, or as she referred to it as 'the Big Ugly Bill,' and other Republican initiatives get through.
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'They are trying to destroy our democracy, destroy fairness in our country,' Kelly said. 'And unfortunately, they're starting with Texas. But we want you to know, we stand by your side.'
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., accused Abbott of not stepping up for the people affected by devastating floods in the Hill Country region of Texas.
6 The Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025.
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Specifically, he accused Abbott of not having a special session to help families rebuild, but instead of doing 'the bidding' of President Donald Trump to 'banish Democrats' from the federal delegation.
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Krishnamoorthi then directed his comments to Abbott, saying, 'don't mess with Texas,' because the people standing with him represent Texas.
'You can silence them. You can smear them. You can saddle them with debts and fins. But you cannot intimidate them,' Krishnamoorthi said. 'You can gerrymander the hell out of that map. Guess what? Two can play that game. That's right. Other states will do exactly the same thing and neutralize what you're trying to do in Texas.'
Other lawmakers standing side-by-side in Illinois chose to accuse Trump's policies of being race-driven.
Texas State Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos said Trump's policies hurt working families.
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'That is nothing short of racism,' she said. 'He is coming after all of us who don't look like him and his Republican colleagues in the Texas House.'
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, followed Rodriguez Ramos with more accusations of racism, saying Republicans are doing what Trump has insisted be done.
'I want you to know that we didn't introduce the race card when this message was sent by and through the Justice Department to the State of Texas, to our attorney general,' he said. 'They mentioned the race card because they talked about racial gerrymandering. They brought it up, and when they brought it up, they did it, knowing that this was a buzz word. It was a trigger.'
'They know that that's a buzz word that people would respond to in Texas, but we are going to respond to that buzz word by telling them that your racism is not going to change democracy in the state of Texas,' Green continued. 'In the United States of America, racism is going to be met with our taking a stand for democracy. You take a stand for racism, we will stand for democracy, and we will win.'
6 Abbott criticized the Democrats' dramatic departure, saying that 'real Texans don't run from a fight.'
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Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, said she was pleased that states like California and New York were standing up for Texas Democrats because, once it happens in Texas, it will spread to other states.
She called the issue a 'national war,' and 'an all-out war' in which everything is on the table.
'We come from a state of great pride, and I never thought as a Texan, as an elected member of the Texas House of Representatives and now as an elected member from Texas to the United States House of Representatives, that I would see the governor of the proud state of Texas bend a knee to a felon from New York,' Johnson added. 'I never thought I'd see the day, but here we are.'
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, was also standing with fellow Democrats in Illinois and accused Abbott of talking 'a lot of noise.' She also accused Republicans of being 'weak.'
'The difference is they expect Democrats to kind of be the nice guys that we are,' Crockett said. 'They expect us to take the punch and say thank you. Well, I am here to tell you not only are we going to punch back, but we about to beat you down.'
Still, Abbott told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday that Texas is doing what it is allowed to do by law.
He also accused state Democrats of doing something 'un-Texas' by turning their back on Texans and not dealing with the flooding issues still echoing across the state.
Abbott said four of the five seats that could change because of redistricting will be primarily Hispanic.
'These are seats where Democrats are having to come to grips with reality,' he said, explaining that Democrats are losing votes to Hispanics and Black voters in Texas.
He also said Democrats are 'freaking out' because they are realizing Texas has the authority to redistrict.
'Texas will continue to fight for what is right,' Abbott said.
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
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