Democrats Push Back on Texas Redistricting Map, Back California Ballot Measure

Newsom said California would bring its own maps directly to voters.

Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier gestures from the Texas House floor in the state Capitol in Austin on Aug. 19, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The Texas Legislature is moving ahead with a congressional redistricting map that would give Republicans additional seats, while Democrats in California are putting a competing proposal before voters this fall.

The Texas House is scheduled to vote on Aug. 20 on a newly drawn congressional map that would give Republicans five extra seats. The state Senate passed the map on Aug. 13, and Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign it.

In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders have introduced Proposition 50, a ballot measure to redraw California’s map. On a press call on Tuesday, Newsom, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier, and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin voiced their support. Former President Barack Obama also endorsed the measure, calling Newsom’s plan a “responsible approach.”

“You know, there’s been a lot of talk out there about Democrats wanting Democrats to fight harder. I’m honored to be on this call with three leaders who are using every single lever of their power to fight,” Martin said, referring to Newsom, Booker, and Collier. “Every single tool in their toolbox to fight back in this moment. So don’t let anybody tell you that Democrats aren’t fighting. We are fighting every single day and every single moment.”

Collier, speaking live from the Texas Capitol, said she was “confined in a bathroom” as Texas Republicans moved forward with the redistricting proposal.

“I represent a majority Black and brown community, and it’ll be my constituents, the people who look like me, who will be harmed,” she said, adding she was speaking from the bathroom of the Capitol. Collier had spent the night inside the building, stating she was not allowed to leave after refusing a police escort.

Newsom said that California’s initiative was part of a national response to Texas Republicans’ move.

“There is nothing normal about this. This should make everybody’s blood boil,” he said.

Texas House Democrats had denied a quorum during the first special session by leaving the state, blocking the GOP map for two weeks. They returned after the session ended and after California introduced its own redrawn map, seeking to gain five Democratic seats.

Booker cast the fight as a continuation of civil rights battles.

“This is not about Democrat versus Republican,” Booker said. “This is not about right versus left. This is a moment in American history that’s about right versus wrong. We know that all voters deserve a fair and just democracy. They deserve fair districts. They deserve a system that affirms our values and doesn’t violate them.”

Abbott has said Texas Democrats were derelict in their duties, saying on Aug. 15: “Delinquent House Democrats ran away from their responsibility to pass crucial legislation to benefit the lives of Texans. We will not back down from this fight.” 

During the call, Collier said the proposed Texas map would prevent black and brown individuals from selecting the candidates of their choice. She described the maps as “the most segregated” the state has produced since the 1960s.

Texas Republicans said the proposal to redraw districts is legally justified and is needed to correct problems with existing districts in response to a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in early July.

The DOJ said some districts may be “coalition districts” drawn based on racial demographics to form a majority by combining minority groups and thus violate the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment.

Newsom said California would bring its own maps directly to voters.

“We believe in the fundamental democratic principles, we want to do it in a democratic way,” he said. “So it’s the most transparent way.”

Former President Barack Obama also endorsed California’s Proposition 50, saying that Texas Republicans were redrawing districts “right in the middle of a decade between censuses—which is not how the system was designed.”

The Texas plan would eliminate a Democratic district in the Austin area and could pit Democratic Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar against each other. Newsom has said the countermeasure on his state’s ballot gives voters “a chance to fight back.”

Jackson Richman contributed to this report.