Commentary — In California’s political history, few maneuvers have so boldly tested the state’s commitment to democratic fairness as the recent proposal by Attorney General Rob Bonta to bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission. As reported by Seema Mehta, Kevin Rector, and Taryn Luna of the Los Angeles Times, Bonta declared on July 29, 2025, that he believes there is a “legal pathway” for Democrats to present new congressional district maps directly to voters on a statewide ballot, sidestepping the commission established by voters in 2010 to ensure impartiality.
“I think the governor could call a special election that the voters of the state of California would participate in, and present to them a pathway forward that’s different than the independent redistricting commission,” Bonta stated, suggesting that voters could directly approve maps drawn by the state Legislature.
This proposal, cloaked in the language of voter empowerment, emerges as a calculated response to President Donald Trump’s urging of Republican-led states like Texas to redraw congressional districts to bolster GOP control of the U.S. House. Yet, as Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom contemplate this partisan counterstrike, they risk plunging California into a deeper abyss of political imbalance, further eroding the state’s already fragile two-party system.
David Hernandez, CA GOP Regional Vice Chair for Los Angeles County, warned, “This story is laying the foundation for final elimination of the Republican Party influence in California.” His fears are not unfounded, particularly in regions like Riverside County, where Republican gains in recent years could be obliterated by redrawn maps designed to favor Democrats.
The roots of this strategy are not new. As Jeremy B. White noted in a 2021 Politico Pro article, “California’s new congressional map boosts Democrats,” the state’s independent redistricting commission, despite its nonpartisan mandate, approved maps that tilted the playing field.
White quoted political data analyst Paul Mitchell, who observed, “This was definitely a good outcome for Democrats. Republicans have 11 current members — in these maps they should only be sending nine back to Congress in 2022.”
The result was a delegation that, while reflecting California’s Democratic lean, disproportionately marginalized Republican representation. Today, with only nine Republicans in California’s 52-member congressional delegation, Democrats hold a commanding 83% of seats despite garnering just 54% of the vote in the 2024 election.
This disparity is compounded by a structural issue: the inclusion of non-citizens in the U.S. Census for apportionment purposes. Districts with higher non-citizen populations—often urban, Democratic strongholds—require fewer eligible voters to elect a representative, amplifying the influence of Democratic votes. This dynamic, critics argue, distorts the principle of equal representation enshrined in the 14th Amendment, which prohibits laws that “abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”
Whether this practice constitutes a constitutional violation remains a question for legal scholars, perhaps one from my hometown of Corona. Still, its effect is clear: it entrenches Democratic dominance in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., while sidelining rural and suburban Republican voters.
Bonta’s proposal to revert to partisan redistricting, even if presented to voters, undermines the spirit of the 2010 ballot measure that created the independent commission to curb gerrymandering. The Los Angeles Times reported GOP Assembly Leader James Gallagher’s sharp rebuke: “It’s undemocratic, it’s wrong, and it needs to be stopped.” Gallagher’s warning that such a move could “rip the state and this nation apart” reflects the stakes of dismantling a system designed to prioritize communities of interest over partisan gain.
Yet, the audacity of Bonta and Newsom’s plan is matched only by their apparent indifference to California’s pressing domestic challenges. As Dan Walters of CalMatters detailed, the state faces a structural budget deficit of $20 billion, papered over with accounting gimmicks and reserve fund raids. “The budget closes about a third of the $20 billion gap with an aforementioned $7.1 billion shift from the emergency reserve,” Walters wrote, noting that this was “money that’s supposed to be used to cushion the impact of an economic downturn or calamities.” Rather than addressing this fiscal recklessness, Bonta and Newsom are fixated on federal power plays, justifying their actions with a flimsy appeal to Texas’s own partisan machinations. Their rhetoric of defending “our democracy” on podcasts and public platforms rings hollow when their policies drive California toward a partisan cliff.
Like a ship adrift on a turbulent sea, California’s political leadership seems determined to steer toward a horizon of one-party dominance, heedless of the fiscal and democratic wreckage left in its wake. The independent redistricting commission is also a beacon of perceived fairness, one that voters should not settle for as equal representation. To cast it aside in pursuit of short-term partisan gain is to betray the very principles of governance that Bonta and Newsom claim to uphold. As the state teeters on the edge of a fiscal and political precipice, one can only hope that Californians, in their wisdom, will demand a course correction before the ship runs aground.
SOURCES | BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mehta, Seema, Kevin Rector, and Taryn Luna. “California Democrats Consider New Congressional Maps for November Ballot in Special Election.” Los Angeles Times, July 29, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-07-29/california-democrats-new-congressional-maps-november-ballot-special-election-bonta-newsom-trump.
Walters, Dan. “New California Budget Papers Over $20 Billion Deficit, Ignores Day of Reckoning.” CalMatters, July 2025. https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/07/california-budget-deficit-reckoning/.
White, Jeremy B. “California’s New Congressional Map Boosts Democrats.” Politico Pro, December 21, 2021. https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2021/12/21/california-redistricting-midterms-525815.