{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/spectrum-news-1-california-democrats-unveil-bill-seeking-to-end-nationwide-redistricting-battle-call-it-off-ramp-for-gop/", "Spectrum News 1: Cal\u00adi\u00adfornia Democrats unveil bill seeking to end na\u00adtionwide re\u00addis\u00adtricting battle, call it \u2018off-ramp\u2019 for GOP", "2025-09-18", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "By Maddie Gannon\n\nDemocrats unveiled a bill Thursday that seeks to put a stop to what they branded as President Donald Trump\u2019s nationwide \u201credistricting war\u201d that has already brought a new Republican-favored House map in Texas, a move toward one in Missouri and a ballot initiative set to go before voters to boost Democratic districts in California.\n\nThe legislation, called the Redistricting Reform Act, is being introduced by two California Democrats, Rep. Zoe Lofgren in the House and Sen. Alex Padilla in the upper chamber.\n\nIt would require states to create independent redistricting commissions to draw Congressional district lines instead of allowing state lawmakers to do so themselves, as is the case in many states. It would also ban efforts to draw new House district maps in the middle of a decade as opposed to after the census every 10 years.\n\nPromoting the bill at a press conference at the Capitol, Lofgren noted she has introduced this act since 2005, but said this year it takes on new meaning amid the scramble that has set off around the country to draw new maps in favor of one side or the other ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.\n\n\u201dSo what started in Texas has spread, predictably, to Missouri and Indiana, Florida and beyond,\u201d Padilla said at the press conference. \u201cIt\u2019s become a race to the bottom to impress Donald Trump who is personally issuing these marching orders from the White House \u2013 from the White House to legislators in statehouses across the country to rig the maps.\u201d\n\nTexas became the first state to embark on the effort, with the state legislature passing and the state\u2019s GOP Gov. Greg Abbott signing a new map last month that could give Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House by making some currently held by Democrats more red.\n\nCalifornia\u2019s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately moved to hit back, quickly getting his state legislature to get an initiative on the ballot this November that asks voters to approve new district lines in the state that seeks to give Democrats five additional seats of their own. As opposed to Texas, Newsom\u2019s plan had to require getting approval from voters because they had tasked an independent commission with drawing California\u2019s district lines years ago.\n\nIn a potential nod to the irony that the bill unveiled on Thursday by two California lawmakers would put an end to Newsom\u2019s plan too, Padilla argued his state had \u201cno choice\u201d but to respond to Republicans\u2019 efforts \u2013 and as long as those continued, so to do efforts in the Golden State.\n\n\u201cCalifornia will not stand down,\u201d he declared. \u201cCalifornia will continue to stand up if Republicans choose to continue to make a mockery of democracy.\u201d\n\nAt the same time, the California senator presented the bill as an \u201coff-ramp\u201d for Republicans and Democrats to come together to put a stop to the ballooning nationwide redistricting scramble.\n\nLofgren pointed out that a few California House Republicans who would be in jeopardy of losing their seats if voters approve the new map on the ballot in November \u2013 particularly Rep. Kevin Kiley who introduced his own bill in Congress to ban mid-decade redistricting \u2013 may now be willing to support her bill. She would \u201cwelcome\u201d their support and intends to reach out to seek it.\n\n\u201cWhen we passed this bill through the House in 2021, we did not receive a single vote from the Republicans,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope that they will change this time around, since so many of them seem to have expressed support for a nonpartisan redistricting process now that their seats may be at risk.\u201d\n\nSince the redistricting moves by Texas and California, Missouri\u2019s Republican-led legislature has since passed a new map intended to give the GOP a new seat and there has been pressure on Indiana to do the same. Indiana\u2019s Republican Gov. Mike Braun told a local radio station this week that a redrawing of his state\u2019s map in favor of Republicans \u201cprobably\u201d will happen, despite some expressed hesitancy from state lawmakers.\n\nThere has also been chatter about Florida Republicans considering doing the same while Democrats in New York and Maryland have floated the possibility in response. Utah and Ohio, meanwhile, are required to look into new district lines for different reasons but nonetheless could see maps change.\n\nPete Buttigieg \u2013 the former mayor of South Bend and transportation secretary under former President Joe Biden \u2013 was back in Indiana on Thursday to rally against potential redistricting in the state.\n\n\u201cThey are being pressured to change the rules so that voters don\u2019t have a say anymore and they know that that is wrong,\u201d Buttigieg said of state Republicans at a rally at the Statehouse in Indianapolis.\n\nMeanwhile, Thursday\u2019s press conference on Capitol Hill featured remarks in support of the Redistricting Reform Act from Democratic lawmakers from both chambers, hailing from an array of states. In a release after, Lofgren\u2019s team noted the legislation has 50 co-sponsors, including the entire California Democratic Congressional Delegation, although she noted at the press conference no Republicans have offered their support yet.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/spectrum-news-1-california-democrats-unveil-bill-seeking-to-end-nationwide-redistricting-battle-call-it-off-ramp-for-gop/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4436407946050167, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}