California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) redistricting effort raised $6.2 million since it started receiving donations a week ago, according to the governor’s team.
The haul, which was first reported by The New York Times, included 200,000 donations as of Thursday afternoon.
Newsom has become a leader in the Democratic Party’s fight against Republican redistricting efforts in red states like Texas. On Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives approved a new congressional map that would give Republicans five additional congressional seats ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The Texas state Senate is expected to pass the map before it heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) desk for final approval.
The California governor has pledged to fight fire with fire, proposing new temporary, congressional maps.
“It’s not about whether we play hardball anymore — it’s about how we play hardball,” Newsom said on a press call with the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Democratic-controlled California State Assembly passed the first of three bills as a part of the effort to counter Texas’ redistricting efforts.
The measure, along with the two other pieces of legislation is aimed at redrawing lines to give Democrats five additional House seats, which would cancel out the five would-be Republican gains in Texas.
Newsom’s plan has received widespread support from Democrats, including Obama who called his approach “smart” and “measured” in a post on X on Wednesday.
According to Newsom’s longtime pollster David Binder, 57 percent of California voters said they backed the redistricting measure while 35 percent said they were undecided. Another eight percent said they were undecided.
