By Jack Queen
(Reuters) -Four California Republicans have filed a lawsuit seeking to block Governor Gavin Newsom’s , which would create five new Democratic U.S. congressional seats in his state to counter a similar move by Republicans in Texas.
The Republican lawmakers argue in their emergency petition to the California Supreme Court that the state constitution prohibits lawmakers from acting on the redistricting bills until Sept. 18 because new legislation requires a 30-day review period.
The lawmakers asked the court to block Democratic lawmakers from moving forward with the legislation until Sept. 18.
The lawsuit comes as Newsom seeks a tit-for-tat expansion of California’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation to match a redistricting in Texas that would net Republicans five more seats.
The Texas redistricting broke with a tradition where lawmakers only draw new electoral maps after the once-a-decade census. The move drew praise from Republican President Donald Trump but was criticized by Democrats, who said it was nakedly partisan.
The move by Texas led to a two-week standoff between Republicans who control the legislature and Democrats, who left the state to deny a quorum needed to advance the redistricting bill. Democrats returned to the statehouse on Monday.
Redistricting, where lawmakers redraw electoral maps for partisan advantage, is not uncommon in the U.S. but typically happens after the census every 10 years. The next census is in 2030.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty and Alistair Bell)
