California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom seeks to counter Texas Republicans’ congressional redistricting efforts by temporarily abandoning the Golden State’s nonpartisan congressional district-drawing process in favor of maps that would increase Democratic representation.
On Aug. 20, the Texas House passed a new congressional map that would give Republicans five more seats; it was expected to pass the Senate and go to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk within days. Californians will vote Nov. 4 whether to sign off on Newsom’s plan, a proposal that could add five new Democratic congressional seats in time for the 2026 midterm elections.
Although Newsom’s actions have drawn both pushback and support, the governor told left-leaning political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen that Democrats stand by nonpartisan redistricting processes.
“We’re also announcing as a consequence of this effort, a commitment to national independent redistricting,” Newsom said during Cohen’s Aug. 17 podcast episode. “That’s on the ballot as well. We believe it’s the right thing to do. In fact, the Democratic Party believes it’s the right thing to do. Democrats have voted for national independent redistricting. Republicans have not.”
States dictate their own processes for drawing electoral districts, which often falls to state legislatures. In some states, independent commissions perform the job — an effort to make the political map drawing process less partisan.
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But we wondered about Newsom’s statement that Republicans categorically “have not” supported independent redistricting. Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards told us Newsom referred to H.R. 1, a 2021 congressional measure also known as the “For the People Act” that sought to require that all states establish independent redistricting commissions.
It passed the House with all Democrats but one supporting it, and all Republicans voting against it. It did not advance to the Senate.
But that single bill does not tell the full story of Republicans’ voting history on independent redistricting.
Republicans opposed other parts of H.R. 1
The 884-page For the People Act would have required that each state have a nonpartisan state agency to appoint two Republicans, two Democrats and two independents to a commission that would decide how congressional district lines are drawn. It would have banned drawing a map with “the intent or the effect of unduly favoring or disfavoring any political party,” a practice commonly known as gerrymandering.
The bill included many other proposals addressing voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance and ethics. It also would have required:
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Additional disclosures of campaign-related fundraising and spending.
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Adopting voting by paper ballots, early and no-excuse mail voting.
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Expanding voter registration options, such as online, same-day and automatic voter registration.
PolitiFact previously fact-checked around 20 claims about the bill, with some from Republican lawmakers.
In some cases, state Republicans supported independent redistricting commissions
Newsom specified a congressional vote on national redistricting, but we found at least four states where Republicans joined Democratic state lawmakers in efforts to establish nonpartisan redistricting commissions.
Independent commissions control redistricting in California and seven other states — Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, New York and Washington, according to the website All About Redistricting, managed by University of Colorado law professor Doug Spencer.
Three states — Hawaii, New Jersey and Virginia — assign redistricting to commissions that include elected officials or their appointees. Redistricting in the majority of the rest of the states is controlled by state legislatures. Some states have commissions that serve in advisory or backup roles.
Eight of the states with congressional redistricting commissions established them through ballot measures initiated by state legislature votes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and Ballotpedia. Colorado (2018), Hawaii (1992), Idaho (1994), Montana (1984), New York (2015), New Jersey (1966), Virginia (2020), Washington (1983) did so through legislative referral. The three others created them through citizens’ initiatives.
“At the state level, Democrats have been vocal proponents of independent commissions while Republicans have generally opposed them,” David Niven, University of Cincinnati American politics professor, said.
In Arizona, for example, Republicans opposed Proposition 106 in 2000, which established the state’s independent redistricting commission. They said the power to draw districts will be given to “unelected, unaccountable lawyers.”
But we found exceptions. Independent commissions in Idaho and New York were created with bipartisan support.
In 2018, Niven said, Democratic and Republican legislators in Colorado sponsored the measure to get the question on the ballot.
And PolitiFact previously fact-checked Illinois’ Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker when he said Illinois Republicans “didn’t do anything” to establish an independent commission. We rated that Mostly False after finding that Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly filed two proposals in 2021 for creating an independent redistricting commission.
Our ruling
Newsom said, “Democrats have voted for national independent redistricting, and Republicans have not.”
In 2021, all Republican lawmakers voted against H.R. 1, which would have required all states to establish independent redistricting commissions. But the redistricting provisions were one part of the 884-page bill, and Republicans said they opposed it for various reasons, not just because of the redistricting provision.
State Republicans have at times supported measures to give independent commissions the duty to draw state-level congressional districts. We found examples in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois and New York.
Newsom’s statement was about national redistricting, and it needs more clarification and context. We rate it Mostly True.