California Gov. Gavin Newsom
SACRAMENTO - GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has vowed to file lawsuits in both state and federal courts to stop what he says is “a blatant, unconstitutional and illegal” attempt at mid-decade redistricting by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have suggested that California may need to draw up a new congressional redistricting map to add more districts favorable to Democrats in the wake of Texas lawmakers considering a similar gerrymander this year to add more GOP seats. Such efforts could determine which party controls Congress in 2026.
The governor has suggested that a special election would be needed to amend the California Constitution, which now mandates that a bipartisan panel – the California Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission – draw up new congressional maps after each decennial population count conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. A special election could put the power of redistricting back in the hands of the state Legislature if voters gave their approval.
But Hilton said such a plan would violate the equal protection clauses in both the California Constitution and the U.S. Constitution because mid-decade maps would not accurately reflect current population distributions to ensure districts have roughly equal populations.
“How can you ensure this test is met without an up-to-date census,” Hilton told the Southern California Record. “That is impossible.”
He stressed that millions of people have moved out of California in recent years for multiple reasons, including crime and the high cost of living, and millions of state residents have relocated within the state, creating more suburban growth.
“Any maps drawn now in this rushed manner would be ignoring major population shifts in the past several years,” Hilton said.
He said he had no opinion about whether the redistricting efforts in Texas should also be challenged through a lawsuit based on the federal Equal Protection Clause, since he is focused only on California issues and next year’s governor’s race.
Adding another dimension to the potential redistricting plans in California, the Republican congressman who represents multiple counties along the state’s border with Nevada, Kevin Kiley, said he would introduce legislation in Congress this week to bar mid-decade redistricting nationwide. If such a bill became law, it would negate any new map drawn up by any state prior to the 2030 census.
Steven Hilton
Hilton said the bill was in line with his redistricting analysis, but he could not speak to how quickly such a measure could be implemented at the federal level. “I agree with the direction there,” he said.
Hilton’s redistricting analysis is detailed in a memo from San Diego-based JW Howard Attorneys, which was released this week by his campaign. It argues that a mid-decade redistricting map could not ensure accuracy without a new count of California residents.
Hilton said it is unclear which part of the redistricting process – an introduction of a bill, a call for a special legislative session or the outcome of a special election – would trigger a state and federal lawsuit, but he said he expected such a filing to be sooner than later.
Hilton is not alone in criticizing Newsom’s plan for a new congressional map. Common Cause, which favored the current redistricting process approved by voters in 2008, has urged state lawmakers to reject such a change in how the maps are drawn up.
“Gavin Newsom is wrong on redistricting,” Darius Kemp, Common Cause’s California executive director, said in a prepared statement. “It is not the leadership California needs right now. … California is the gold standard when it comes to people-first districts. Gov. Newsom can still choose to lead with our state as a gold standard, rather than pick a fight that honestly, his political party cannot and will not win.”
