SACRAMENTO – Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom officially announced moving forward with mid-decade redistricting in California to counterbalance similar efforts in Texas. As the long-standing leader of people-powered redistricting reform in California, Common Cause urges Governor Newsom and the state Legislature to follow the organization’s established fairness criteria for the re-drawing of maps to ensure that these efforts prioritize the full and fair representation of Californians. 

Common Cause will not endorse partisan gerrymandering, even when its motive is to offset more extreme gerrymandering by a different party. However, a blanket condemnation in this moment would amount to a call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarian efforts to undermine fair representation and democracy. 

Common Cause’s position follows decades of advocacy against partisan gerrymandering, including taking Common Cause v. Rucho to the Supreme Court, drafting provisions in the Freedom to Vote Act to ban partisan gerrymandering, and championing independent redistricting commissions nationwide. California Common Cause was the lead author and proponent of the ballot initiatives that created the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Independent redistricting commissions remain the gold standard for redistricting across the nation.

Common Cause will not oppose mid-decade redistricting countermeasures that meet its fairness criteria. With these criteria in mind, Common Cause offers the following recommendations for California’s redistricting effort: 

• Proportional Response: The proposed constitutional amendment should explicitly state that California’s lines will only be redrawn if Texas redraws its lines to expand that state’s partisan advantage leading into the 2026 midterm elections.
• Meaningful opportunity for public participation: Every part of this process should center on accessibility and transparency. Any proposed constitutional amendments should be submitted to the voters, with ample opportunity for the public to provide feedback on any changes to how their districts are drawn.
• Commitment to protect the rights of underrepresented voters: Any legislation connected with this redistricting effort should adopt as many of the criteria currently outlined in Article XXI, section 2 of the state constitution as possible.
• Advancing people-centered redistricting: California’s leaders should publicly endorse citizen-led independent redistricting commissions as the long-term solution and endorse the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, including provisions banning mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering. Endorsing legislation to create local redistricting commissions would further demonstrate California’s commitment to independent redistricting reform.
• New redistricting maps must explicitly expire following the 2030 Census.

Read our letter to the Governor here.

Read Common Cause’s Six Fairness Criteria for Mid-Decade Redistricting here.