By Dave Mason
The Center Square

Emotions ran high Monday as Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento accused each other of sabotaging democracy before the 2026 mid-term congressional elections.

The parties’ press conferences began late morning with the Democrats representing California in the Legislature and Congress. They told a room packed with reporters at the state Capitol that they’re fighting back against Texas’ plans for congressional redistricting with their Golden State map.

The Democrats accused President Donald Trump of election rigging and the Republicans in the California Legislature of silently letting him get away with it. The Democrats, though, did not mention U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley’s bill that would ban Texas, California or any other state from drawing new congressional district lines before the 2030 census. Kiley is a California Republican whose district spans most of the state’s border with Nevada. Republican legislators mentioned Kiley’s bill during recent Center Square interviews. Kiley introduced the bill earlier this month.

Less than an hour after the Democrats spoke, Republicans held their own press conference at the Capitol. They accused the Democrats of ignoring voters, who passed a constitutional amendment in 2010 to create an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Democrats stressed that their measure, affecting the 2026, 2028 and 2030 congressional elections, was temporary and that voters would see the new California congressional map and have the final say in the Nov. 4 special election. They said the independent commission would still do its work after the 2030 census.

Monday’s press conferences marked the start of a week of political drama that is expected to end with floor votes Thursday in the Assembly and Senate on a legislative package, according to the Assembly speaker’s website, speaker.asmdc.org. The package will include a constitutional amendment allowing for replacement of the current congressional map.

The amendment requires a two-thirds vote in the Legislature, where Democrats hold a supermajority in both houses. If passed, the amendment then would have to be approved by voters in a Nov. 4 special election that Assembly Republicans are warning will cost taxpayers $235 million.

The legislative package also includes a statute containing the new congressional map that would be subject to voters’ approval. It’s at aelc.assembly.ca.gov/proposed-congressional-map.

Another component is a statute to establish and fund the special election.

The entire legislative package will be discussed during hearings Tuesday in the elections committees in the Assembly and Senate.

That surprised the ranking Republican on the Assembly committee, Vice Chair Alexandra Macedo, who told reporters at the Capitol that she didn’t learn about the committee meeting until a text message at 8 a.m. Monday. She said that barely gives her 24 hours to prepare for a hearing on legislation co-authored entirely by Democrats.

“Let me warn anyone testifying tomorrow. If you don’t answer my questions, attorneys will make sure you answer them in a courtroom,” Macedo said angrily. “You can run, but you cannot hide.

“You’re disenfranchising California. We will fight back,” Macedo said. “If not here in the Capitol, it will be in the courtroom or at the ballot box.”

Earlier on Monday, a couple dozen or so Democratic lawmakers gathered on a press conference stage as some of them told reporters they were fighting back against what they called Trump’s attempts to cheat during an election.

“I firmly believe our democracy is on life support,” Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire said. “The 2026 midterm elections are our best chance to stop the bleeding.”

McGuire noted the ballot proposal is being written so that the California redistricting will not happen if Texas and other states decide against redistricting.

“We will not allow Republicans to determine the outcome of a future election years in advance, before a single vote is cast,” said Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, chair of the California Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments.

“If we let Donald Trump get away with rigging elections through partisan gerrymandering, we will not have free and fair elections in the United States in the future,” Cervantes warned. “If Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans pursue this partisanship power grab, California is ready to respond.”

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said he is proud to stand behind the California map.

“I’m not happy to be here. We did not choose this fight. We don’t want this fight,” said Assemblymember Marc Berman, a former chair of the Assembly Elections Committee.

But California can’t sit back and do nothing if Texas tries to gain five more congressional seats for Republicans through gerrymandering, Berman said.

“I’m a new dad. My son was born 30 days ago,” Berman said. “I know there will be times through my son’s life that I will have to say ‘no.’ If I don’t, my son will grow up to be petulant and entitled like Donald Trump, who said out loud that he is entitled to five more Republican districts in Texas.

“Instead of telling Trump no, Republicans predictably began tripping over themselves to give Trump what he demanded,” Berman said.

Less than an hour after Berman spoke, state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, compared Newsom to a child with the governor’s view that Texas’ attempt to redistrict is justification for California to do the same. “Johnny, my friend did it. So I should be able to do it.”

“Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was going to save democracy,” said Strickland, who previously told The Center Square that neither Texas nor California should do mid-decade redistricting. “He’s going to save democracy by having no more democratic elections in California.”

Instead of drawing up new congressional districts, Newsom should be promoting the fact that California has the gold standard with its independent, nonpartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission, Strickland said.

Democratic leaders stressed that their proposed map reflects the hundreds of hours of public testimony during the commission’s hearings after the 2020 census. They added that districts were drawn in ways to avoid splitting cities and counties.