Gavin Newsom’s DNC Rally for Abortion, Big Labor… Oh, and Redistricting

California Governor Gavin Newsom had a DNC-style rally in Los Angeles Thursday, and invited potty mouth leaders of Planned Parenthood, the California Teachers Association, SEIU CA, Senator Adam Schiff, and other Democrat politicians to speak, all praising abortion, big labor, big teacher labor… Oh, and redistricting, as an after thought.

It was comical to hear Jodi Hicks, CEO & President of Planned Parenthood say “we are doubling down on our values here in California,” and then whine that Planned Parenthood has had their federal funding cut. She was the only speaker to mention “redistricting” up front, but she did it in the context of the “anti-choice justices appointed to the Supreme Court.”

“You take away our freedom; we’ll take away your seats,” Hicks threatened Republicans.

The other speakers were about as eloquent, dropping f-bombs, attempting to connect with other people who drop f-bombs.

“Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

Gov. Newsom claims that he is giving back power to the people. Au contraire mon frère… the people already have the power to redraw districts after voters passed a Constitutional Amendment creating an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission via passage of California Proposition 11 in 2008, also known as the “Voters First Act.”

Notably, a brand new Politico poll, found that by a 2 to 1 margin, California voters oppose Newsom’s redistricting scheme, the latest POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey found. “Just 36 percent of respondents back returning congressional redistricting authority to state lawmakers.”

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a major hurdle in his quest to revamp his state’s congressional lines, according to a new poll: Californians’ deep support for its current independent redistricting commission,” Politico reported.

Congressman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) said today that Gavin Newsom accused Texas of doing something so sinister as redistricting, that he’s going to do it too.

Newsom et al. charged Republicans with everything Democrats have been doing for many years now:

Republicans want to rig the map.

Trump is trying to rig the system!

WE ARE HERE BECAUSE DONALD TRUMP HAS SHREDDED DEMOCRACY!

California will fight back — to make it fair for voters all across this country.

Trump is wrecking this economy, shredding our democracy — California will make sure he is held accountable by the American people!

Gavin Newsom must feel pretty proud of this statement as he pinned it on his X feed:

“No public hearings. No transparency. Complete secrecy.” This is how Assembly Republicans describe how Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting scheme is being handled.

Assembly Republicans continue:

“Gavin Newsom’s Democrat allies are behind closed doors, rigging California’s congressional districts so politicians can choose their own voters.”

“As Dan Walters reports, ‘California’s new maps are being drafted in secret, a sharp contrast with the months-long public deliberations four years ago of the state’s redistricting commission.’”

“Walters notes they will be ‘revealed briefly before the Legislature votes… [with] no plans to allow them to be modified before adoption.’”

“Their plan? Reveal the maps at the last minute, then ram them through with no real opportunity for public input. That’s not democracy. It’s a power grab.”

We know this. As Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton warned recently at a press conference the Globe covered, “Gavin Newsom is trying to steal five House seats from Republicans so Democrats can flip the House and impeach President Trump.”

At Hilton’s August 5th press conference he announced his “legal action to stop Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta from ramming through an illegal, mid‑decade redistricting scheme designed to shred the state constitution and rig California’s elections.”

Gov. Newsom knows what he is doing is a gross violation of the California Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution. And while he continues to claim that he’s going to redistrict California only if Texas pushes forward with its redistricting, he is lying.

The Globe recently explained:

Newsom is conflating his desires to win the midterm elections with actual federal law and Texas’ working to bring its districts in line with federal law and court decisions.

Last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott added redistricting to the 2025 state agenda, because the U.S. Department of Justice raised legal concerns over the constitutionality of four districts in the state over where district lines were redrawn in 2021 following the heavily manipulated 2020 Census.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter to Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton, identifying four Texas congressional districts as “unconstitutional racially based” gerrymanders. These so-called coalition districts (combining minority groups like Blacks and Hispanics) were found not protected under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act based on the 2024 5th Circuit ruling in Petteway v. Galveston County, Hans Von Spakovsky explains.

“When Texas drew its coalition districts in 2021, it impermissibly used race and ethnicity as the predominant factor in drawing the boundary lines. That makes those four districts unconstitutional because they violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, the ‘one person, one vote’ standard—meaning they must be redrawn.”

California Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) has written a letter to the Office of Legislative Counsel that outlines the numerous legal and constitutional violations of Governor Gavin Newsom’s attempt to redraw California’s legislative district maps, the Globe reported earlier Thursday.

During a proposed special election in November, state Democrats will introduce a ballot initiative to abolish the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission established by voters to end gerrymandering in 2008. This initiative is expected to cost California taxpayers more than $200 million. DeMaio says the cost will be closer to $250 million.

On X (formerly Twitter), DeMaio further charges that Newsom’s redistricting scheme is “Illegal. Unconstitutional. Unnecessary.” 

“The consequences of gutting California’s voter-approved independent redistricting are clear: tossing out a process that held 196 public meetings, heard 3,870 verbal comments, and received 32,410 written submissions from Californians before finalizing the current maps,” Assembly Republicans  say, and vow to fight to “protect fair elections, stop this shameless power grab, and keep the power where it belongs: with the people, not the politicians.”

“If Sacramento politicians can toss out the maps your independent commission drew, they can toss out every voter-approved reform.”