By Lynn La | CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday parodied some of President Donald Trump’s greatest hits as he attempted to drum up support to counter potential Republican gains in the next midterm election by redrawing California’s own congressional districts.

The maps? They’re “beautiful,” according to the Governor’s Office. We’re supposed to see them later today when Newsom releases them.

Newsom’s rally? It was a “big beautiful press conference.”

The redistricting plan? It’s California’s “liberation day” and voters will see it on their ballots as the “Election Rigging Response Act,” according to Newsom. 

The imitation highlights the political warfare waging between both parties, as California Democrats push for a mid-cycle redistricting campaign that would mirror and offset Republicans’ efforts in Texas.

  • Newsom: “(Trump) doesn’t believe in the rules. And as a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done.”

California relies on an independent redistricting commission that meets every decade to draw electoral boundaries. Newsom’s plan would sidestep the commission temporarily through the 2026, 2028 and 2030 election cycles by allowing voters to approve or reject new maps at a Nov. 4 special election. California would then revert to the commission’s authority after the 2030 census.

The Legislature will need a two-thirds vote to place the measure on the ballot. State lawmakers will take up the matter when they return from break on Aug. 18.

California Republicans are in lockstep against it, calling it a Democratic power grab that will drain taxpayers of a quarter billion dollars.

Common Cause, a good governance watchdog group that opposes gerrymandering and initially criticized California’s redistricting efforts, eased its stance earlier this week. Arguing that there are “authoritarian efforts to undermine fair representation,” the group said it now neither endorses nor condemns California’s countermeasures.

It was a dilemma Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Culver City Democrat, remarked upon during Thursday’s event, when he said that California and American voters should generally oppose gerrymandering.

  • Bryan: “We absolutely should. That’s not what this is about. This is about whether we will let the authoritarian in the White House break our democracy — while we sit silent, while we take a high road that doesn’t exist anymore.”