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.
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.
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.”
At the end of the day, though, Newsom said the people of California will have the ultimate say.
“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.”
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.
“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.
