Central Coast Reacts to Governor Newsom’s move in the national partisan redistricting battle

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION-TV) - Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday, triggering a special election this November, in which California voters will decide on a remapping of congressional districts designed to flip five seats in the House of Representatives from red to blue.

“You fight fire with fire," said Governor Gavin Newsom

The Election Rigging Response Act is Newsom’s direct counter to similar redistricting efforts in Texas that came at the behest of President Trump.

Some Democratic voters are happy that their party is matching the political fervor on the right.

“I'm tired of us taking the high road. And while they just keep doing low blows and shooting us, shooting us down, so I fully support it. I say we do it. I mean, I think kind of like how Michelle Obama, like ‘when they go low, we go high,’ and I'm tired of that,” said Eric Grabiel of Santa Cruz.

Congressional maps are typically adjusted every ten years to coincide with the census, but this call to action comes amidst a partisan push.

"I’m completely opposed to gerrymandering anywhere. But we have no control over Texas. We only have California. And I don't think the response is fair to basically eliminate the vote of 5 million California republicans because of what Texas is doing," said Brian Higgins with the Monterey County Republican Party.

He thinks two wrongs don’t make a right.

"Just a really weird stance to me because Gavin says what they're doing there is horrible. So we're going to do it even worse here, and we're going to cost the taxpayers all this money," said Higgins.

The last special election in California cost $200 million to put on, and this time it’s projected to be even more expensive.

“That's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. It's a it's. In the totality of the budget of California. It's not. But so, you know, that’s something to consider, but, I still would vote for it," said Grabiel.

Some speculate that this could start a chain reaction with other states following suit.

“I think they have more to lose. There's more states, blue states that could swing that or, you know, the red states are already, there already, they're already fully republican. So I think that I think the democrats have more to gain. There's more larger blue states that could really help us. So if they want to go down that battle, I'm willing to do it,” said Grabiel.

Higgins is already preparing for the special election in November.

“We're going to do our part here in Monterey County. We've we've already got the the logos made up. We're creating the yard signs that we'll be putting out for no on 50. If people want to come and get involved, we are here six days a week, Monday through Saturday. People are welcome and we're encouraging everyone to come and get involved. And we will be playing within the rules that the democrats set up here in California," said Higgins.

In Texas, the state’s Senate has still not voted on the redistricting, but is expected to pass it.

Meanwhile, California Representative Kevin Kiley (R-3rd District) is introducing a bill that would forbid mid-decade redistricting. He's calling on the state legislature to vote on it as soon as the assembly begins its session.