A Republican congressman is trying to get ahead of a potential redistricting effort in California by introducing a bill to ban the redrawing of congressional maps between now and the 2030 census. The bill, if made law, would nullify any potential changes to Texas’s maps now being considered by the state legislature there.
Congressman Kevin Kiley, who represents a stretch of the border between California and Nevada, would be a top target for Governor Newsom should California Democrats move forward with their own redistricting push. Mr. Newsom has said that he would only do so if Governor Abbott succeeds in redrawing Texas’s maps to eliminate five Democratic congressional seats.
President Trump won Mr. Kiley’s district by only three points last year. The congressman won his race by 11 points, making him a top target for Democrats next year. In a press release, Mr. Kiley says he hopes to “stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country.”
His bill, which he says will be introduced on Tuesday, would bar all 50 states from using any congressional maps for their 2026 elections other than the ones that were used last year. If the bill somehow passed the Republican-controlled House and Senate, and were to be signed by Mr. Trump — an unlikely series of events — the potential new Texas maps would be banned as well.
Mr. Newsom and other California Democrats have made clear that Mr. Kiley would be a top target for them in a redistricting fight. In order for the state to move forward with redrawing maps, Mr. Newsom would need to hold a statewide vote allowing the supermajority Democratic legislature to take over the map-drawing process from the current body that handles redistricting, which is a bipartisan commission.
“Hope it’s worth it!” Congressman Eric Swalwell wrote on X in response to Republicans’ proposed map in Texas. “Say goodbye to Kevin Kiley and 5 other CA Republicans.”
“Texas just released a map so rigged it might as well have been drawn at Mar-a-Lago,” Mr. Newsom’s press office said in response to the machinations in Texas. “California won’t be sitting on the sidelines.”
Mr. Abbott, meanwhile, is pushing forward with his redistricting efforts despite Mr. Newsom’s threats. Mr. Trump has personally pushed Texas Republicans to redraw the maps so he can gain a five-seat cushion in next year’s House elections.
On Sunday, dozens of Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives fled their home state for Illinois and other locales in order to block the chamber from going into session. Without a quorum, Republicans in the legislature will not be able to convene and move the redistricting bill forward.
In response to the Democratic exodus, Mr. Abbott and the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, said they support all necessary measures to compel either the attendance of the Democrats. Mr. Paxton floated the idea of arresting the lawmakers and bringing them home, while Mr. Abbott said he may move forward with expelling the Democrats from the house.
“When the Governor calls a Special Session, our Constitution provides that the ‘Legislature shall meet,’” Mr. Abbott said in a statement Sunday night. “This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025. For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House.”
The attorney general’s opinion which Mr. Abbott cites does not grant him the power to expel lawmakers from the chamber. Were he to try and do so, it would almost certainly kick off an immediate court challenge.
Mr. Abbott went further, saying that any Democratic legislators who are receiving any kind of pay for their “truancy” may be committing felonies. The governor claims that receiving financial support for their stay in Illinois could be considered bribes.
Governor Pritzker — a billionaire — says he is providing logistical support for the Texas lawmakers staying out-of-state. The Texas Democrats are facing $500-per-day fines for every meeting of the legislature they miss.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
