Gov. Gavin Newsom’s, D-Calif., effort to redistrict the Golden State in response to similar efforts in Republican bastions appears to run against his constituents’ wishes, a recent poll found.
California currently has an independent redistricting commission to redraw its congressional maps with the census. A clear majority  of 64% of voters in a recent University of California Berkeley/Politico poll support maintaining the current commission. Only 36% of registered voters favored returning that authority to the legislature.
The survey is a blow for Newsom, who has loudly opposed Texas’s effort to redraw its congressional maps in a way that is expected to add five GOP-leaning seats before the midterms. Ohio and Indiana are also expected to redraw their maps before the midterms.
Newsom and Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., have both promised to retaliate. Though New York, like California, has a similar commission and the redistricting matter was the subject of litigation in the last election cycle.
Conducted July 26-28, the survey questioned 1,445 California registered voters.
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.
