Mocking Trump, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom set to officially launch redistricting campaign

Kate Wolffe, Lia Russell and David Lightman, The Sacramento Bee on Aug 14, 2025

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Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to roll out an official campaign on Thursday in Los Angeles advocating for California to redraw its congressional districts and offset a similar GOP-led effort in Texas to net the party an additional five U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterms.

Newsom said Wednesday the state Legislature would follow through with drawing new maps after claiming President Donald Trump “missed” a deadline to honor his request to block Texas and other red states from redrawing their congressional maps. The maps would then go to California voters in a special Nov. 4 election.

“DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!!” Newsom’s press office wrote in an X post parroting the president’s all-caps posting style. “CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!).”

‘TACO’ refers to a Democratic meme acronym that stands for “Trump always chickens out.”

It wasn’t immediately clear who would join Newsom in Los Angeles, though some of the Democratic Party’s most powerful leaders, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi have thrown their weight behind redistricting.

On a podcast episode he released Wednesday with former Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, Newsom said the redistricting war was the Democrats’ chance to coalesce and push back on Trump’s agenda.

He cited an Atlantic article about how Adolf Hitler dismantled German democracy in 53 days, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s threat to jail O’Rouke for aiding Texas Democrats who fled the state to prevent the Republicans from moving forward with redistricting.

“They’re rigging this election in plain sight. So this is back to just code red. We got to move from the rhetoric. We have got to take action,” Newsom said.

Longtime elections official now state assemblymember Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, has created an online portal for the public to provide input about the redistricting process.

“I urge all Californians to take a few minutes to participate,” Pellerin wrote in an emailed statement. “Every comment counts, and your feedback will help keep our process transparent, fair, and responsive to the people we serve.”

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