OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:14 PM – Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he plans to fight against Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom’s gerrymandering efforts in the Golden State.
Schwarzenegger, a former two-term Republican California governor, previously assembled a nonpartisan redistricting independent commission in charge of drawing California’s Congressional maps.
Newsom is trying to bypass the independent commission in an effort to counter the GOP’s redistricting tactics in Texas — a move that Schwarzenegger opposes, along with the GOP’s efforts themselves.
“He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people,” stated Daniel Ketchell, a Schwarzenegger spokesperson. “He’s opposed to what Texas is doing, and he’s opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing,” Ketchell continued. “His position is that two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“He is still committed to independent redistricting in every state around the country. He thinks we have to get rid of gerrymandering to get rid of gridlock and have politicians who actually care about what the people think,” he added.
Newsom’s push to abolish the commission would require a two-thirds legislative supermajority in the California Congress, although he claimed on Monday that he is “very” confident the measure would pass.
Schwarzenegger is reportedly preparing to launch a campaign against Newsom’s redistricting efforts alongside groups that previously supported the creation of the independent commission, including the League of Women Voters and California Common Cause.
“It’s too early right now for him to fully unleash the standard Arnold gerrymandering stump speech,” Ketchell stated. “But it’ll come.”
Meanwhile, a Newsom spokesperson argued that the effort was solely in opposition to the Trump administration, which has issued support for redistricting efforts in GOP-controlled Texas.
The redistricting efforts represent an attempt to gain Congressional seats ahead of the critical 2026 midterms.
“Governor Newsom has, his entire political career, supported independent redistricting and believes we are in a fire fight right now with Trump and Texas about to rig the election,” stated Bob Salladay, a Newsom spokesperson.
Newsom revealed on Thursday that he is considering asking state lawmakers to introduce legislation that would draw up a new congressional map for the next three midterm elections, and then return to the nonpartisan committee.
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