California Democrats are calling their redistricting process “transparent,” even as they refuse to disclose who is actually responsible for the state’s proposed congressional maps.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Democrats have proposed a new congressional map they say could give their party five additional seats. However, when pressed by reporters and Republican legislators on Tuesday, Democrats in the Legislature repeatedly sidestepped questions about who was behind the new districts.
“When I go to a restaurant, I don’t need to meet the chef,” Democrat Assembly Elections Committee Chair Gail Pellerin said when asked repeatedly by reporters who influenced the maps.
I have seen a lot of incompetence in the legislature over the last 20+ years. This ranks near the top. It’s a simple question with a simple answer. The husband to the lead witness in support drew the maps. https://t.co/BQJ5wFfc0t
— Lance Christensen (@lancelands) August 20, 2025
The bill establishing the new congressional districts states that the map will be prepared by the Assembly Committee on Elections and the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments. However, it has been widely reported that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee funded the map, which was produced by a firm led by redistricting expert Paul Mitchell.
Mitchell’s wife is the president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
“The Legislature drew the maps,” is what Democrat Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguilar Curry repeatedly said when pressed by Republican Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo. Curry simultaneously claimed that she “did not personally draw the maps.”
Macedo, meanwhile, said she had no involvement in the process, despite being vice chair of the Assembly Committee on Elections tasked with preparing the maps.
Democratic Senate Elections Committee Chair Sabrina Cervantes also avoided giving a specific answer on who was responsible for the proposed map, insisting that the process was “the most transparent.”
“This is a complete travesty,” Lance Christensen, vice president of government affairs and economic policy for the California Policy Center, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “If it’s this difficult for legislators, including members of the election committee, to answer about who actually influences these maps, imagine how difficult it’s going to be for the average voter.”
The DCCC submitted the map Friday, but it was modified slightly on Monday. The state’s Democratic leaders would not answer who changed the maps or why the changes were made, according to California-based outlet KCRA News.
Sources familiar with the matter told KCRA 3 News that Mike McGuire, president pro tempore of the California Senate, had one of the districts redrawn in exchange for his support of the plan. Christensen said such an offense would carry “real legal penalties.”
“The people have the right to know who drew these maps, which politicians were involved, why the maps were tweaked, and most importantly, whether anyone demanded changes to secure their vote,” California Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher told the DCNF. “Enough games. We deserve answers.”
Newsom’s plan to redraw California’s congressional maps requires transferring redistricting authority from the state’s constitutionally mandated independent commission to the state Legislature through a statewide referendum.
The process has already faced legal challenges from four Republican state lawmakers who argued that the Democrats’ rush to redraw the maps violates the state Constitution’s requirement for a 30-day public review period for new legislation. California lawmakers have used a tactic known as “gut and amend” to revise unrelated bills, inserting language related to redistricting to circumvent this requirement.
Newsom, Pellerin, Curry and Cervantes did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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