California Gov. Gavin Newsom drew just 106 people—including campaign staff and reporters—to a much-publicised “Liberation Day” rally on 14 August, where he formally unveiled a plan to let state lawmakers redraw the state’s congressional districts before the 2026 midterms. Newsom’s proposed constitutional amendment, dubbed the Election Rigging Response Act, would appear on the November 2025 ballot and would expire after the 2030 census. The governor says the measure is retaliation for Republican-backed maps in Texas and would help Democrats regain control of the U.S. House. Opponents across the aisle call the plan a partisan power grab that would sideline California’s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. A Politico–Citrin Center–Possibility Lab survey released this week found 64 percent of voters opposed giving the legislature control over redistricting, while only 36 percent supported the idea. California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin said the proposal “tramples the will of the voters.” The anemic turnout, combined with unfavourable polling, has raised fresh doubts about Newsom’s national prospects ahead of a possible 2028 White House bid, even as he intensifies public sparring with President Donald Trump to burnish his profile with Democratic activists.