Gov. Newsom Suggests Retaliation if GOP Redistricts Texas in Special Session: 'Two Can Play That Game'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom reacted to President Donald Trump's recent declarations pushing Texas to redraw its congressional maps to create more House seats favorable to Republicans. "Well, two can play that game," the Democrat wrote on X.

In an interview with Pod Save America, a liberal podcast, the governor voiced his frustrations with the gerrymandering practice, which he says is a tactic used by both parties to hoard power. However, he said, if Republicans decide to shift congressional maps for their own benefit, California would react with the same strategy.

"We may have a higher moral ground, but the ground is shifting from underneath us, and I think we have to wake up to that reality," Newsom said.

He went on to suggest that his administration could use different tactics to retaliate to Trump's agenda, including calling special sessions, special elections, ballot initiatives and creating new laws.

Newsom had already expressed a similar viewpoint in an interview with The Tennessee Holler, another liberal news outlet. He said that Republicans are "playing by a totally different set of rules" and suggesting his state might need to rethink its own "fair play" approach, adding that the California Legislature— which has a Democratic supermajority in both chambers— could "gerrymander like no other state," if leaders stop "playing fair."

"I saw what Gov. Abbott did today... These guys are not f—ing around," Newsom told the news outlet. "We've been playing fair but it made me question that entire program. These guys are going to do everything in their power to maintain their power."

Newsom's reactions came after President Trump said he would push Texas to re-draw its congressional districts to benefit his own party ahead of the midterm elections. The Texas GOP-controlled legislature is scheduled to begin a special session next week during which it will consider new congressional maps to further marginalize Democrats in the state.

"Texas will be the biggest one. And that'll be five," Trump said after he was asked about the possibility of adding GOP-friendly districts around the country.

Trump's allusion to "other states" likely includes Ohio, which is required by law to draw congressional maps this year and could give Republicans up to three more seats. It is unclear which other states he sees as opportunities for midterm pickups, Politico reports.

Redistricting is a constitutionally mandated process for redrawing political districts after the once-a-decade census to ensure they have equal populations. But there is no prohibition against rejiggering maps between censuses, and sometimes court rulings have made that mandatory. The wave of voluntary mid-decade redistricting that Trump is encouraging, however, is unusual, The Associated Press noted.

When it comes to a potential redistricting battle, Democrats have a disadvantage, according to The Associated Press. Many of the states the party controls have their state legislative and congressional maps drawn by independent commissions that are not supposed to favor either party. That is the case in California, where Newsom has no role in the redistricting game after voters approved the commission system with a 2008 ballot initiative.

"There isn't a whole lot Democrats can do right now," said Michail Li of the Brennan Center for Justice. "In terms of doing tit-for-tat, they've got a weaker hand."