California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton pledged Sunday on Newsmax that Gov. Gavin Newsom's "outrageous, unconstitutional, illegal power grab" tied to newly signed redistricting bills will lead to the measure's defeat in November and to the party's defeat during the 2026 general election.
"He and his party, who’ve done so much damage to this state, [have been] giving us the worst outcomes on absolutely everything that matters to anyone’s life, the highest taxes, the highest rate of unemployment, the highest rate of poverty, the highest cost for gas, electricity, water, and to distract from all of that, they’re playing these pathetic political games," Hilton told Newsmax's "Sunday Report."
He further argued that California Democrats have long engaged in gerrymandering and said the new bills only extend that practice.
"Now they’ve redrawn the maps already without even this next move to grab more power in such an extreme way," said Hilton. "If we actually had fair representation in California, we would have today another 12 House seats. So when Texas adds another five, that doesn’t even go halfway to correcting what California has already done."
Hilton also dismissed Newsom’s defense that the changes were in response to Texas Republicans advancing their own congressional map.
"That’s total BS, even by his own admission, because in the original version of their bill, they had what they called a Texas trigger, that all this would only go ahead if Texas went ahead with its maps," he said. "Right at the last minute, they took that out. They were going to do this anyway, because Gavin Newsom wants to be the guy that flips the House and sticks it to Trump and wins the Democrat primary."
Hilton added that he's fighting to keep the redistricting push from reaching the ballot in November, and plans to file a lawsuit against the measure.
"They’ve already thrown out one lawsuit from Republican representatives in the state Legislature," he said. "I’ve got a different argument that I’ll be making in federal court, a constitutional argument, and we’ll see whether we can even stop it from getting to the ballot."
He framed the legal challenge as part of a broader battle against entrenched power in Sacramento.
"We can’t take any chances because these people, it’s this arrogant, corrupt, ruling elite," he said. "They think they’ve got the right to rule. They don’t care about the people. They have contempt for the people. It’s all about their power. They’ll stop at nothing to keep their power."
This makes the push for California redistricting dangerous, said Hilton.
"Everyone across the country has to realize it," he said. "Wake up. Watch it. This is your vote. It matters. It counts."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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