California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the proposed partisan redistricting that favors Democrats is a necessary counterweight to President Trump's threat to American democracy.

A ballot measure to temporarily change California’s U.S. Congressional districts before the 2026 midterm election will go to voters this November after Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature

The vote marked a return volley by Democrats in a national redistricting war the day after Texas approved its new map.

Newsom has called for a November special election to let voters decide on a new congressional map designed to flip up to five Republican-held seats.

Former President Barack Obama is in favor of California’s redistricting plan. The former president threw his support behind the effort while the state legislature continues to advance bills to convene a special election in November, when voters would decide whether to implement congressional maps for the next three elections.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a series of bills calling for new congressional maps that could add up to five Democratic seats in Congress, a response to an ongoing, Trump-led effort in Texas to use redistricting there to carve out five additional GOP seats.