California Governor Gavin Newsom has called a 4 November special election asking voters to approve a new congressional map that Democrats say could flip five Republican-held U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterms. Bills to place the measure on the ballot are expected to be introduced as lawmakers return from recess, leaving the Democratic supermajority just days to meet a statutory deadline that requires legislation to be in print 72 hours before a vote. The proposal would override California’s voter-created Citizens Redistricting Commission for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, after which control would revert to the panel. Republicans, good-government advocates and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger condemned the move as a power grab, and a recent survey cited by opponents showed 64 percent of Californians favor keeping the independent commission, with only 36 percent supporting legislative control. Newsom framed the plan as a direct response to efforts in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott—at President Donald Trump’s urging—has convened a second special session to pass a mid-decade map designed to add five Republican-leaning districts. Texas House Democrats ended a two-week walkout on Monday, returning to Austin and effectively restoring the quorum needed for the GOP-controlled legislature to advance its redistricting bill. The parallel drives in the nation’s two largest states mark an intensifying partisan battle over control of the U.S. House ahead of 2026. Both maps are expected to trigger legal challenges: national Republicans have vowed to sue in California, while Texas Democrats plan to contest the GOP map under voting-rights statutes.