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James Gallagher brings bill to split California into two states

California Assembly Republicans unveiled a legislative proposal on Wednesday to divide the state into two, invoking the nuclear option in response to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign to gut GOP representation in Congress.

Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher sponsored a joint resolution that would begin the process of splitting the state between its coastal and inland counties, responding to the Democratic gerrymander designed to shrink even further the state’s Republican delegation in the U.S. House.

“What we’ve seen with this last proposal is really the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Mr. Gallagher said at a press conference in Sacramento. “When you strip us of all representation, when you deprive us of our voice, then we have no other option but to move forward in a civil way and pursue our own dreams. That is the American way.”

He drew a biblical comparison to the saga of Moses as he sought to free the Israelites from the grip of the Egyptian pharaohs.

“He said to that king, ‘Let my people go,’” Mr. Gallagher said. “Well, on kind of the same token this morning, I’m saying, ‘Gavin, let my people go.’ We would like a better way forward and we can no longer abide by a government that gives us no voice.”

Efforts to break up California are nothing new. The nation’s most populous state has seen more than 200 attempts to divide the state or join neighboring states since statehood in 1850, none of them successful.

At the same time, Assembly Joint Resolution 23 represents what may be the first time in the modern era that elected state legislators have put their prestige and influence behind the drive. 

The bill has seven cosponsors so far.

The drastic action comes with Republicans furiously battling to stop Democrats from enacting a congressional map aimed at reducing the number of GOP lawmakers from nine to four. The state has 52 congressional districts, meaning that Democrats, if the elections panned out as the lines suggest they “should,” would increase their majority from 43 to 48.

The party registration of California voters is 45.3% Democrat and 25.2% Republican, according to the California Public Policy Institute.

That map must be approved by voters. 

Mr. Newsom has called a special election for Nov. 4 on Proposition 50, a proposed constitutional amendment asking voters to adopt the new map in place of the district lines drawn by a citizens’ commission after the 2020 census.

 

 

Democratic legislators pushed through the measure to counter the Texas state legislature, which recently approved a mid-decade redistricting map backed by President Trump that would create five additional Republican-leaning districts. 

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign the bill.

Both the Texas and California redistricting measures have been slapped with legal challenges. California Republicans filed a petition Tuesday asking the state’s Supreme Court to block the redistricting ballot initiative.

Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards dismissed the state-split proposal as unserious.

“A person who seeks to split California does not deserve to hold office in the Golden State,” he said in an email. “This is a stunt that will go nowhere.”

Democrats have emphasized that the redrawn lines would only be in effect until 2030, after which authority to determine congressional districts would shift back to the state’s Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Mr. Gallagher’s proposed map divides the state of 39 million between the Democrat-heavy coastal counties and the more conservative inland counties.

The newly created inland state would be comprised of 35 counties, with a population of about 10 million. The 23 coastal counties would remain under the flag of the state of California.

Mr. Gallagher said he would follow the process laid out in Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the creation of new states from existing states with the consent of the relevant state legislature and Congress.

He said he’s already getting calls from residents of coastal counties asking to join the newly created inland state.

“Lots of the comments have been, ‘Hey, don’t count us out. We want to be in different communities,’” Mr. Gallagher said. “I hear you, Orange County, and you will have the ability to speak into this. Certainly, this map is not set in stone.”



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