California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Wednesday he'll move forward with a new gerrymander after he says President Trump "missed" his deadline to call off redistricting in Texas.
Newsom said he'd hold a press conference this week to detail how California, which has an independent districting commission, would draw new maps and take them directly to voters in a special election later this year.
The nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, which was initially against blue states retaliating against Texas's redistricting, is now signaling openness to it.
Common Cause said in a statement it would not "endorse partisan gerrymandering even when its motive is to offset more extreme gerrymandering by a different party," but it also said that "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 people-powered democracy."
"We have established a fairness criteria that we will use to evaluate all countermeasures so we can respond to the most urgent threats to fair representation while holding all actors to the same principled standard: people—not parties—first," Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said in a statement.
It appears the standoff in Texas will continue, with Democrats holding a joint press conference this afternoon with Indiana Democrats in Chicago.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) says he's considering redrawing the Hoosier State's maps after a meeting with Vice President Vance last week.
The Texas Senate on Tuesday passed a new GOP-friendly House map, bringing it one step closer to final passage. It's an identical map to the one passed by state House Republicans and could help the GOP pick up an additional five House seats in next year's midterm elections.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has called for a new special session to take effect later this week after Democrats ran out the clock on the first special session by fleeing the state. Abbott says he'll continue calling for new special sessions until the Democrats return.
MEANWHILE…
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate former Rep. Beto O'Rourke's (D) political group and others for helping fund the Democrats who fled the state.
"These outside groups appear to be acting in violation of federal public corruption and election laws," Cornyn said.
Cornyn is in a bitter primary battle against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who called for O'Rourke's arrest earlier this week.
In the latest edition of The Gavel, The Hill's courts newsletter, Zach Schonfeld reports:
"A chasm has emerged between two Texas Republican Senate candidates in the legal fight against Democrats who fled the state to block a redistricting push…It has also become a shadow war in the state's upcoming Senate GOP primary."
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