California redistricting hearing turns heated as Republicans mount opposition campaign

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California legislative hearing turned into a shouting match Tuesday as a Republican lawmaker clashed with Democrats over a partisan plan to rewrite U.S. House maps to win Democrats more seats.

A committee voted along party lines to advance a new congressional map in response to a Republican redistricting effort in Texas that President Donald Trump wants. California Democrats do not need any Republican votes to move ahead.

Assemblymember David Tangipa, one of two Republicans on the committee that was considering the proposal Tuesday, spent 30 minutes asking questions of his colleagues before being told to make time for other members, prompting some boos from audience members. When the committee began voting, he shouted for more time.

At times during the hearing, lawmakers interrupted one another until the chair, a Democrat, called for order.

“This is not the way we conduct our hearing,” Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who chairs the committee, said as she called for order several times after hours of discussion.

Tangipa argued that California should spend its resources on other issues such as health care. Lawmakers are expected to schedule a Nov. 4 special election to put the new maps before voters, and they haven’t revealed a cost estimate for the unexpected election. California Republicans estimated a special election could cost more than $230 million.

“I’m asking how much this costs because the state is in a massive deficit and it’s so personal to me,” Tangipa said after the vote. He said his stepsister died a few weeks ago after a Medicaid provider refused to sign off on services she needed.

California begins voting on proposed congressional map

Tuesday’s hearings were the first chance for California residents to tell lawmakers how they feel about the new congressional boundaries. A hearing in the Senate was far calmer, and the proposal passed easily.

California Democrats said they are pushing back against Trump and his desire to reshape U.S. House maps to his advantage in an expanding fight over control of Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The California Legislature is expected to approve a proposed congressional map and declare a Nov. 4 special election by Thursday to get required voter approval.

In Texas, state Rep. Nicole Collier stayed at the Capitol overnight and into Tuesday to protest a Republican requirement that she and some of her Democratic colleagues have around-the-clock law enforcement surveillance after they ended a two-week walkout that delayed a vote on the Trump-backed map.

On Tuesday, eight other Texas Democrats said they’ll join Collier in spending the night on the House floor.

State Department of Public Safety officers are shadowing the lawmakers to ensure they return to the Capitol and do not leave Texas again. To leave the House floor Monday, the Democrats had to sign what they called “permission slips” agreeing to the surveillance.

Texas’ Republican-controlled House scheduled a vote for Wednesday on the new map.

California Republicans mount an opposition campaign

Dozens of residents from up and down the state, leaders of local Republican groups and the conservative California Family Council showed up to a hearing Tuesday to voice opposition to Democrats’ plan.

Some said the process has been shrouded in secrecy because the map was drawn without meaningful public input. Others said they would rather lawmakers focus on addressing issues instead of trying to bypass a bipartisan redistricting process.

“There’s different needs and different requirements for everybody,” Jim Shoemaker, a Republican running for Congress in a district south of Sacramento, said in an interview. “But if you have somebody that just has a little portion of an area, they’re not going to represent the people the way they should because they’re looking at the wrong thing.”

Labor union members and several key Democratic political allies said the partisan plan is needed to protect democracy and to fight back the president’s aggressive agenda.

Public remarks may have little sway, though, as Democratic leaders are determined to rapidly advance the proposal.

Some Republican lawmakers filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court arguing Democrats are violating the state constitution. They assert that lawmakers can’t vote this week because the constitution requires new legislation to have a 30-day wait for public review.

Democrats hold 43 out of California’s 52 U.S. House seats and want to win five more. The proposal would try to expand that advantage by targeting battleground districts in Northern California, San Diego and Orange counties, and the Central Valley. Some Democratic incumbents also get more left-leaning voters in their districts.

Texas Democrats have police escorts

In Texas, Republican legislative leaders assigned state troopers to watch their Democratic colleagues and ensure they don’t flee the state again, as they did recently to block a vote on new maps. Suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa said one followed her on her Monday evening drive back to her apartment in Austin after spending much of the day on a couch in her office. She said he went with her for a staff lunch and even down the hallway with her for restroom breaks.

“This is a waste of taxpayer dollars and really performative theater,” Plesa said in a telephone interview.

A message seeking comment was sent Tuesday to the Department of Public Safety.

A national brawl unfolding

Redistricting typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade after the census. But Trump is looking to use mid-decade redistricting to shore up Republicans’ narrow House majority and avoid a repeat of the midterms during his first presidency. After gaining House control in 2018, Democrats used their majority to stymie his agenda and twice impeach him.

Nationally, the partisan makeup of existing district lines puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. Of the 435 total House seats, several dozen districts are competitive, so even slight changes in a few states could affect which party wins control.

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Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writer Sophie Austin in Sacramento and John Hanna from Topeka, Kansas contributed to this report.