Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz). (Photo: assembly.ca.gov/media-live-event/9926?format=video)
California Democrats Blitz Newsom’s Redistricting Bills, Cutting Republican Questions and Mics Off
‘This is about saving Democracy itself’ falls flat
By Katy Grimes, August 20, 2025 2:45 am
Listening to Assembly Democrats Tuesday in the Elections Committee blame President Donald Trump for everything from “rigging an election,” to taking candy from babies, was political performance theater lacking any reality. They were hearing two bills of the 3-measure package on Congressional redistricting, Senate Bill 280 and Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8, and had an informational panel on Assembly Bill 604, to specify the elements that define the congressional districts if ACA 8 is adopted by the voters on November 4.
The worst part was actually having to watch Democracy dying in darkness – Committee Chairwoman Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz), a former elections official, who yesterday said Democrats are “building the most transparent process in the country,” cut the microphone of the Vice Chairwoman Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) when she asked who drew the proposed gerrymandered Congressional maps.
Vague answers indicated Democrat legislative leaders drew the maps, but no names were provided.
In Monday’s dog-and-pony-show, Pellerin said “Donald Trump lit this fire by pressuring Texas to redistricting.” Pellerin is also concerned about saving Democracy: “This is about saving Democracy itself.”
As Assemblyman Carl DeMaio said in the morning press conference, the maps were drawn by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), “which is not even a registered lobbyist,” DeMaio noted. “How much money was paid to Paul Mitchell, who boasted that he had a team of 8 people” working with him. Mitchell is drawing the new districts for the governor, the Globe reported.
Assemblywoman Macedo also made a motion at the beginning of the committee hearing to adjourn the meeting as Chairwoman Pellerin was giving her opening statement. When queried, Macedo said Republicans on the committee would like as much time to read the bills and maps as Democrats had. Macedo said she and committee member Assemblyman David Tangipa (R-Fresno) received the bills less than 24 hours ahead of the hearing, because they were only notified about the hearing, also less than 24 hours of the scheduled time.
Here is the exchange, noting “Answers provided suggest Democratic legislative leaders drew the maps, but no names were provided,” posted by Eytan Wallace, CA Capitol Reporter for Nexstar CA Stations:
As the Globe reported earlier Tuesday after Republicans filed an Emergency Petition for Writ of Mandate with the California Supreme Court to halt the illegal gerrymandering, “The other important issue is who drew the maps? Sen. Strickland said it is unconstitutional for elected politicians to touch the maps, and asked members of the press to ask Senate President Pro Ten Mike McGuire, Senator Angelique Ashby and Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains if they saw the maps – three lawmakers rumored to be looking to run for Congress.”
Assemblyman Tangipa asked about all of the co-authors on the bill who may have a vested interest in the newly drawn maps. He then proposed amendments to ACA 8 stating that any member of the legislature who votes for the ACA cannot run for Congress in any of the newly proposed congressional districts.
Tangipa then said KCRA news reported that Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire asked for a particular district be drawn, in anticipation of running for Congress. Tangipa’s amendment specified that lawmakers can’t vote on ACA 8 if they are running for Congress.
But Democrats killed Assemblyman Tangipa’s amendment.
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8 “Provides for the use of new congressional district maps for elections held through 2030 if Texas, Florida, or other states voluntarily put a new congressional map into effect, and if voters approve this measure.”
Vice Chairwoman Macedo expressed untold frustration to Chairwoman Pellerin that she was given only a few minutes to ask her questions of the bill presenter Assemblyman Marc Berman, standing in for the bill’s author, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. Chairwoman Pellerin cut off Macedo’s questions as well as Tangipa’s, and repeated ad nauseam, “I have allowed you plenty of times to ask your questions,” and then screamed, “Mr. Tangipa, you are out of order” several times, and cut his mic when he insisted there were many more questions that needed answers. “We are done with questions,” Chairwoman Pellerin declared.
She must have been a delightful elections official.
“Who drew the maps?” was never answered. What should have been a straightforward answer, Democrats refused to address, clearly indicating that indeed they are covering up how the maps were drawn, and by whom.
ACA 8 was passed along party lines, as was SB 280. The party promising transparency, claiming that “Donald Trump and Republicans are trying to rig the next election.” They look and sound ridiculous, and pretty much everyone knows they are lying.
But remember, Chairwoman Pellerin said, “This is about saving Democracy itself.”
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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November 21, 2023 -
Pellerin said “Donald Trump lit this fire by pressuring Texas to redistricting.” Lie Numero Uno!
The Texas Supreme Court Threw out the “Partisan Districts” the Texas Legislature is being forced to redraw because of that!
If there was ever a time for California Republicans to act it’s now. I’d start by suing for lack of transparency and suppression of First Amendment rights by being silenced in session. Will the CA GOP act? No.
I think we should all go to the Assembly portal on public comment and ask , Who drew the maps? Paul Mitchell brags about it in interviews here in the SF Bay Area!
These sneaky dems need to go on record and answer the question! Also, we want to see the expenditures. How much was Mitchell paid?
Portal link below:
https://aelc.assembly.ca.gov/redistricting-public-comment
Thanks for providing the link!!
As previously stated, and this cannot be repeated enough, it was the Texas Supreme Court that brought about the current Texas redistricting, NOT Donald Trump. This needs to be repeated constantly as the left does a good, but waning ability, to control the narrative.
Again, kudos to Ashley Zavala and her magnificent flowing hair for staying on this issue and showing what good journalism looks like! Alexandra Macedo is demonstrating what a good legislature looks like! And as far as Gail Pellerin goes, what a Cupid Stunt in public. She certainly is demonstrating what a good and dedicated Fascist looks like
Lol…. cupid stunt
Gavin new-sum is out of a job fairly soon. Part of his strategy may be to provide more job openings so he can still keep his paychecks rolling in. More democratic seats means more opportunity for him.
So grateful, grateful, grateful Katy Grimes is fully covering every aspect of this outrageous story, and in the latest chapter, posting video so we can see an unbelievable example of their unmitigated gall.
Elsewhere, as Chris Bray in his substack “Tell me where this ends” has referenced, these scumbags are now on the NATIONAL stage getting NATIONAL exposure because of this CA strong-arm-jackboot-stomping-on-your-face redistricting story.
Thus wouldn’t you agree it’s pretty much a sure thing that the video snippets out there of what went on in this hearing will go a long long way to make this outrage backfire like we’ve never seen before? The criminal Dem politicians who star in it are in a daze, they can’t even see themselves, they routinely get away with murder so think they can again, but the rest of the country’s jaws are dropping to witness this full-on totalitarian display. And how is that good for these circus freaks? It isn’t.
The official ballot measure will be titled “Protecting voter’s rights.” The public employee unions will pump out countless millions of dollars to support it and moron California voters will vote for it lock, stock and barrel. The courts are our only hope.
Call to Action:
Step 1: Call leadership.
“Vote no on SB280, AB604 and ACA8. These bills are deeply unpopular. Don’t be a rubber stamp for Lame Duck Newsom and ruin your own political future.”
Leader of the Senate: Senator pro tem Mike McGuire
(916) 651-4002
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas
Ph 916-319-2029
Step 2: Call your local rep: “Vote no on SB280, AB604 and ACA8. The $100million dollar price tag for this special election would go a long way towards wildfire prevention and solving the growing housing insurance crisis. You are in Sacramento to represent our interests, not bolster Newsom’s presidential dreams on a package that even Politico polls show more than 60% of Californians don’t want.”
Step 3:
Encourage your “No Party Preference” friends to re-Register today as Republicans to send a loud message to Newsom that he can’t have a one party state and wipe dissenting voices out of office.
Step 4: share with 10 friends!
Here is the citation on Politco poll….
” Politico poll results found that voters want to keep the independent redistricting commission and not allow the California Legislature to redistrict: 62% Gen Z, through 77% of seniors. Also in the poll study: 72% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans and 61% of independents said they want to keep the commission.”
https://californiaglobe.com/fl/california-democrats-introduce-redistricting-legislative-package-to-save-democracy/
Thank you, CaliGirl, for providing the contact information and suggestions that are right on target when we make our voices heard to our tone deaf ‘selected’ officials.
It is easy to sit back and hope for the best, but as this article shows us, that is EXACTLY
what Gavin’s Gang is counting on their constituency to do.
I have a question , does the large amount of voters California pushed into moving to other states play a role in re-districting , for both California and the receiving state?
.>^. .^<.
I don’t believe this would have occurred if it were an Assemblyman Radanovich. Now tell me I’m wrong.
Democrat Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin is flat out lying when she claims that President Trump “lit this fire by pressuring Texas to redistricting.” The reality is that redistricting in Texas was prompted by a finding from the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Joe Biden that four congressional districts were unlawfully gerrymandered on racial grounds, violating the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment.
As for the obnoxious Democrat Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin who rudely cut off Vice Chairwoman Macedo’s questions as well as Assemblyman Tangipa’s questions, she’s been a parasite on taxpayers for years having previously served as Santa Cruz County Clerk from 1993 until her resignation in 2020 before magically being installed into the 28th Assembly District–probably with Democrat voter fraud and rigged voting machines?
Pellerin authored Assembly Bill 969 that ended the manual hand count of ballots in elections with more than 1,000 voters which was signed into law by Newsom in 2023. No doubt Pellerin and the rest of the criminal Democrat thug mafia in the legislature were concerned that they couldn’t cheat as much in elections if paper ballots were actually counted by hand? It’s absolutely ridiculous when Pellerin smugly tried to claim that legislative Democrats are “building the most transparent process in the country,”
Pellerin is also a member of the Democrat Legislative Jewish Caucus and she has done absolutely nothing to address the toxic antisemitic environment that Jewish students face on California’s publicly funded universities and colleges other than to attack the Trump administration. Wonder if she has ever set foot in a Jewish Synagogue or read the Torah? Probably not? No doubt she’s another one of those radical leftist secular types who assumes a Jewish identity only when necessary like with fund raising or playing the victim?
It’s expensive living in Santa Cruz and no doubt Gail Pellerin’s deep-state Democrat masters have rewarded her handsomely for pushing Assembly Bill 969 and for making sure that the Democrat’s illegal gerrymandering scheme sails through the legislature without question so that they can continue to steal elections with impunity? She probably had little integrity and no ethics to begin with, so it was probably easy for her to sell her soul to her deep-state Democrat masters?
It laughable that babbles about “democracy” when she acts like a little Nazi dictator?
Valuable additional info as usual, TJ, on this sorry excuse for a woman, never mind a legislator, Gail Pellerin. Although I have no doubt this sworn enemy of all that’s sacred in this country has been $$well-compensated$$ for her participation in this shameful episode, I suspect she is a person who would gladly don the jackboots even if she weren’t being paid off.
Yep, Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin has proven that she’ll do whatever it takes to further the Democrat’s coven’s authoritarian, dictatorial and totalitarian agenda? She would have made a brutally mean Nazi concentration camp guard? Maybe she was one in a prior life?
Democrat Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin also authored AB 2839, which attempted to ban “deepfakes” in election content by prohibiting the distribution of deceptive AI-generated material close to elections. It allowed individuals to sue for damages over AI-generated content resembling political candidates within 120 days before and 60 days after an election. Hair-gel Hitler Newsom signed it into law on September 17, 2024.
However, Judge John A. Mendez issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law’s enforcement, finding it violated both the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and California’s free speech protections.
The challenge to AB 2839 was brought by Christopher Kohls, known online as “Mr. Reagan,” who created an AI-altered parody video of Vice President Kamala Harris that was widely shared, including by Elon Musk. Kohls’ legal team argued the law was overly broad and threatened protected political satire. Judge Mendez agreed, stating that AB 2839 acted as a “hammer instead of a scalpel,” unconstitutionally stifling free expression and political debate. He emphasized that “counter speech” is a less restrictive and more appropriate response to potentially misleading content than government-imposed restrictions.
The court found the law failed strict scrutiny because it was not narrowly tailored to serve the state’s interest in election integrity and did not employ the least restrictive means available. Additionally, the judge noted the law’s compelled disclosure requirements—mandating large, full-duration disclaimers on parody videos—amounted to unduly burdensome compelled speech that obstructed the content. The ruling cited Supreme Court precedents, including Moody v. NetChoice LLC and United States v. Alvarez, to affirm that the law suppressed a substantial amount of protected speech, rendering it facially unconstitutional.
Watch Mr. Reagan’s hilarious parody of Gavin Newsom: (https://x.com/MrReaganUSA/status/1838231853754429511)
That’s hilarious, all right. And Gruesome comes off better and more fluent than he actually is. So what is he complaining about? 🙂
@TJ, Thank you for reminding us of AB 969, another vote cheating bill by the Communist Democrats. Right after Newsom signed this bill, he went on his “Campaign For Democracy” tour. It should have been named “Campaign for Communism” tour.
Since Democrats nationwide seem to be placing crosshairs on Republicans more these days and, in response to having a voice on behalf of constituents muted, may I recommend the following changes.
That Republicans introduce a bill that effectively divides tax funded, legislatively apportioned protection resources for elected officials, according to party registration of actual voters in the previous election.
“But remember, Chairwoman Pellerin said, ‘This is about saving Democracy itself.’”
Spoken by and for the low IQ people in the state. She needs to lay off the weed.
I read the name Pellerin denotes ancestral lineage of cape makers. In this case perhaps cloak alsoapplies.
Unless we can get the Feds involved under some federal violation or a creative use of RICO statute, we will not be able to stop this. Even if the idiot CA voters grow half a brain, it will not be enough. Dems don’t care about popularity, they have the CA voting system fixed.
I believe that you can be hopefull, Jfb. The hammer is about to fall on the California DemoncRats vote-fixing system. Companies like Smartmatic and Dominion are about to have their products banned in the USA. We will be going to paper ballots and results required within 72 hours of the polls closing; not to mention voter id and other common sense requirements that the communist-marxist dictators in California oppose.
Jfb, the Feds are already involved. DNI Gabbard has ordered an investigation of voting machines specifically used in the 2020 election. This is a matter of national security.
When the Dems and their left-wing msm minions push back hard, you know that they are covering up something important to their power grab:
https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-2020-election-defamation-smartmatic-4f073b7e0206b6a1b83f911e04c29da7
Check out the assembly hearing. You’ll find some FINE tyranny at play here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BX4KIPz0EE
Wow, Democrat Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin acted like a petty dictator. What a piece of work she is?