The former president suggested that Democrats opposing G.O.P. efforts in Texas and elsewhere should advance their own gerrymandering plans.

Former President Barack Obama endorsed California Gov. Gavin Newsom's redistricting map during a fundraiser for an organization that works to fight gerrymandering.

California’s Democratic Legislature is expected to counter Texas’ mid-decade redraw of its congressional map with one of its own.

Texas Republicans are triumphant after a success in their efforts to redraw the state’s congressional maps, but California Democrats are set to make their move.

The former president said that what Texas Republicans are doing requires an equally aggressive response from Democrats.

Newsom has engineered the high-risk strategy in response to President Donald Trump’s own brinkmanship. Trump pushed Texas Republicans to reopen the legislative maps they passed in 2021 to squeeze out up to five new GOP seats to help the party stave off a midterm defeat.

Former President Barack Obama is in favor of California’s redistricting plan. The former president threw his support behind the effort while the state legislature continues to advance bills to convene a special election in November, when voters would decide whether to implement congressional maps for the next three elections.

They want to do this by passing a state constitutional amendment via a ballot initiative during the 2026 general election.