Republicans in California are proposing a “two-state solution” for the Golden state, in a move that is unlikely to go anywhere, but is reflective of partisan divisions amid a nationwide battle over control of Congress.
James Gallagher, the top Republican in the California assembly, on Wednesday unveiled a resolution that proposes to split the state vertically, carving the deep-blue coastal strip away from the more rural, red inland.
The provocatively named plan – borrowing a phrase more often used in reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – is a political nonstarter. But it underscores the new messaging Republicans plan to use as they rally opposition to a redistricting ballot initiative in November.
Framing it as a response to Democrats’ effort to temporarily override the state constitution and redraw congressional districts – itself a countermove to Republican-led redistricting plan sought by Donald Trump in Texas – Gallagher argued that the new maps in California would further “silence rural voices and rig the political system against them forever”.
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“I have come to see that the only way we can obtain proper attention is by pursuing our own statehood,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. “With this measure, we will begin the first step of that process.”
According to Gallagher, it would create a new state with a population of more than 10 million people – making it one of the 10 most populous states in the US.
“Whether you are from the north state, Central valley, or the Inland Empire, life has become harder and completely unaffordable,” the Republican leader explained. “We have been overlooked for far too long and now they are trying to rip away what little representation we have left.”
Democrats quickly dismissed the proposal.
“A person who seeks to split California does not deserve to hold office in the Golden State,” a spokesperson for the California governor, Gavin Newsom, said in a statement. “This is a stunt that will go nowhere.”
Nick Miller, a spokesperson for the speaker of the California state assembly, Robert Rivas, argued that Gallagher’s resolution was a gerrymander of its own.
“Assembly Republicans say they oppose gerrymandering but just drew this joke of a map,” he said, adding: “a true James Gallamander”.
California’s Democratic-controlled legislature last week approved a sweeping redistricting plan, dubbed the “gavinmander” by state Republicans, aimed at redrawing the state’s congressional boundaries to create five new Democratic US House seats – the same number of Trump has claimed Republicans are “entitled to” in Texas.
The redistricting tit-for-tat is an extraordinary development before next year’s midterm elections. Traditionally, states redraw congressional maps once a decade based on census data, with both the Texas and California maps originally intended to last through 2030.
California voters will have to decide in a special election in November whether they will let lawmakers redraw the map. With a little over two months to go, it is unclear whether the majority of voters will give their approval.
A recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, conducted for the Los Angeles Times, found 46% of respondents agreed the redistricting plans were a good idea, while 36% said it was a bad idea, and 48% said they would vote in favor of the plan if it appeared on the ballot.
