Over the last two weeks, one of the biggest stories of the news cycle has been the Texas gerrymandering legislation.
After Texas announced that it was going to redraw its district maps, California Governor Gavin Newsom vowed to redraw his maps in response, but said he would only do it if Texas passed and signed the law into effect.
Well, Governor Abbott has not yet signed his bill, but Newsom has.
Winning midterm elections for the sitting party is never easy, but it has proven nearly impossible historically.
The only president in recent history to win seats in the House after a party change was George W. Bush, but that took place after the 9/11 attacks, when Americans wanted to make sure he retained control of Congress.
Over the last few elections, Obama lost 63, Donald Trump lost 40, and Joe Biden lost nine.
Trump had reportedly asked Texas to redo its maps, likely trying to limit the damage or possibly even hold the House due to low Democratic polling at the time.
The Texas House was unable to pass the new maps due to Democrats leaving the state, ironically fleeing to three of the worst states when it comes to gerrymandering maps.
They fled to California, Illinois, and New York, but they did eventually return, and the legislation was passed.
The bill has since gone to the Senate, where it immediately passed.
Texas State Senator King stated, “When I reviewed HB 4 and it had 5 new districts that leaned Republican, I deemed that to be a worthy go.” Governor Abbott is expected to sign the law, but he has yet to do so.
On Thursday, Newsom signed the “Election Rigging Response Act.” You can cut the irony with a knife here when you realize that California maps are already rigged compared to registered voters in the state.
So, it is California that technically moved first here.
Barack Obama was asked what he thought about all of this, and he stated that he thought what Newsom was doing was “fair,” but it only should be done if Texas changed its maps.
Let’s also not forget that these maps are all going to be challenged in court, and I would be very surprised if any of the maps are in play by the time the midterm elections roll around. This is Newsom showing that he is willing to take on MAGA and Trump, continuing to build his profile up for the 2028 presidential election, nothing more.
