A Republican state lawmaker from California was cornered in a CNN interview when she raged against California possibly redrawing its congressional districts this year while refusing to say anything against Texas Republicans for doing the same thing.
At issue is Texas Republicans passing a bill to redraw their congressional map at the request of the president in order to gerrymander several Democratic seats away to keep the GOP’s hold on the House of Representatives, even if the 2026 election doesn’t go well for Republicans. California’s legislature introduced a bill in retaliation to redraw their congressional district map to help Democrats in order to neutralize the advantage in the House that Texas Republicans are trying to get.
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California State Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R) was one of several Republicans to file a lawsuit to force the state legislature to pause its attempt to put a new congressional map up to a vote next year. The California Supreme Court has already denied the petition.
On CNN, Valladares accused California Democrats of trying to redraw their congressional map “behind closed doors with no transparency.”
However, CNN host Brianna Keilar asked, “Do you hold Texas Republicans at all responsible for what you’re facing in your state?” Keilar pointed out that there’s a trigger in the California bill that only lets their new map go into effect if another state, like Texas, redistricts to increase Republican power in Congress.
Valladares said that she’s not an expert on Texas to avoid the question, and pointed out that the trigger in the California bill mentions any state, not just Texas, redistricting.
“Okay. But that’s the effect of this. There is a trigger. This isn’t happening in a vacuum. There’s a contingency. And in this case, it is Texas. So let’s just be clear. If it says other states, well, it’s Texas,” Keilar pressed. “So do you have any criticism from members of your own party in Texas?”
Valladares again tried to avoid the question, speaking positively about California’s independent redistricting commission.
“So then what do you think about what they’re doing in Texas?” Keilar asked again.
Valladares said that all states should “do the right thing” and “implement your own independent redistricting commission” without saying anything about Texas Republicans in particular.
“If you can’t criticize Republicans in Texas for their approach, which is so different from the one that you’re advocating for in California, I mean, how should voters see California Republicans as opposed to a move like this, only when it doesn’t favor them?” Keilar asked.
“This isn’t a Republican issue. This isn’t a Democrat issue. This is an issue of political elitists in California silencing and taking the power away from California voters,” Valladares said.
Valladares’ rhetoric echoes that of other Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) raged at California Democrats’ plan to redistrict, calling it an “illegal power grab.” He did not have similar words for Texas Republicans.
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