Overview

• California’s legislature is fast-tracking the Election Rigging Response Act to place a mid-decade redistricting plan on the Nov. 4 special election ballot, bypassing the Citizens Redistricting Commission.
• The proposal would apply new congressional district maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections before returning mapmaking authority to the independent commission after 2030.
• Common Cause has adopted conditional fairness criteria and signaled openness to counter-remaps in response to Texas’s Republican-backed gerrymandering effort.
• Armed, masked U.S. Border Patrol agents, including El Centro sector chief Gregory Bovino, gathered outside Newsom’s Los Angeles rally, raising concerns over political intimidation.
• Opponents such as Charles Munger Jr. and California GOP leaders have pledged legal and ballot challenges, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened further partisan redraws if California proceeds.