Rep. Kevin Kiley just threw down the gauntlet on Gavin Newsom — and he’s not pulling any punches.
The California Republican announced Monday that he’s introducing federal legislation to block mid-decade redistricting nationwide, a direct shot at what he’s calling Newsom’s “brazen and corrupt” scheme to dismantle California’s voter-approved Citizens Redistricting Commission and redraw congressional maps before the 2030 census.
In a fiery House floor speech, Kiley reminded everyone how California voters in 2010 overwhelmingly decided to take redistricting power away from politicians and hand it to an independent commission. “They said voters should choose their politicians — politicians shouldn’t choose their voters,” Kiley said. But now, Newsom wants to reverse that.
According to Kiley, the governor has been plotting to sideline the commission altogether, engineering a ballot measure — laced with “confusing language and other means of deception” — to trick voters into handing control back to Sacramento insiders. The aim? Shrink Republican representation in California down to a pitiful three seats out of 52, despite the GOP pulling over 40% of the statewide vote.
“This could be the single most egregious act of corruption in the history of our state,” Kiley warned.
Even left-leaning groups are sounding the alarm. Common Cause called Newsom’s maneuver “dangerous,” and Patricia Sinay, a Democrat on the commission, slammed it for undermining the entire purpose of the independent body. When Democrats on your own side are telling you it’s a bad idea, you know you’ve gone off the rails.
Meanwhile, House Democrats — led by Hakeem Jeffries — are cheering on Texas Democrats for fleeing the state to block a GOP redistricting vote, calling them “the embodiment of good trouble.”
Newsom himself defended their escape, saying, “This is what fighting for our democracy looks like.” Apparently, “fighting for democracy” now means breaking the rules when you don’t like them and rewriting them when you can.
Kiley’s bill would put an end to this madness. It would nullify any maps adopted between censuses and lock both parties into one redistricting cycle per decade — no more mid-decade hijacking. “This will stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country,” Kiley said. “It’s time to draw the line — literally and constitutionally.”
