The California Assembly’s top Republican on Wednesday proposed a “two-state solution” for the Golden State as the GOP fumes over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) plan for Democrat-friendly redistricting.
“I have come to see that the only way we can obtain proper attention is by pursuing our own statehood. With this measure, we will begin the first step of that process,” Assembly member James Gallagher said in an announcement on social platform X.
The proposed joint resolution would split California in two, forming a new state made up of 35 inland California counties.
“Whether you are from the North State, Central Valley, or the Inland empire, life has become harder and completely unaffordable. We have been overlooked for far too long, and now they are trying to rip away what little representation we have left,” Gallagher said.
The proposed new state would cover most of Northern California, the Sierra Nevada, the Central Valley and the Inland Empire. Heavy blue areas closer to the coast, including Los Angeles, Orange, San Francisco and San Diego counties, would be drawn out.
The proposal comes after the Democratic-controlled Legislature last week easily passed Newsom’s plan to set up a Nov. 4 special election for a ballot measure that, if approved by voters, would let Democrats redraw congressional lines as a response to GOP-friendly redistricting in Texas.
While Texas’s Republican-led Legislature gave the green light this weekend to a plan that could net five red seats, California’s aiming to net five blue seats, effectively nullifying the Texas push.
Unlike in Texas, where approval from the governor and state legislators are all that’s needed to change the maps, California needs voters to approve the ballot measure in order to circumvent the existing independent redistricting commission. The new maps would hold through the ’26, ’28 and ’30 elections, before redistricting authority would revert back to the commission.
The GOP currently controls just nine of California’s 52 House slots. The Republican incumbents affected by the new map are Reps. Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert and David Valadao.
Republicans have pushed back hard against the plan, arguing it impacts the fairness of elections and goes against the voter-approved independent commission.
A group of Republican state legislators on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to intervene and keep Proposition 50 off the ballot, after an earlier challenge had been rejected by the court.
“We will not be subject to a state that deprives us of a fair voice,” Gallagher said on X. “Gavin, let my people go.”
In a press conference introducing the proposal Wednesday, Gallagher acknowledged it would be a locally driven, long process to rally support.
The idea of splitting California, the most populous state, has been floated in the past, without gaining significant traction. The idea for a state of Jefferson in California’s rural north arose in the 1940s, and venture capitalist Tim Draper suggested a “Six Californias” proposal in 2013.
Asked about Gallagher’s proposal during an event with Politico on Thursday, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) cast doubt on its seriousness, saying “let’s focus on what’s real.”
“A person who seeks to split California does not deserve to hold office in the Golden State. This is a stunt that will go nowhere,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told The Hill.
Updated at 6:08 p.m. EDT
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