WATCH: Padilla, Lofgren Introduce Legislation to Establish Independent Redistricting Commissions, End Mid-Decade Redistricting Nationwide

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California's former Secretary of State, and Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18) held a press conference introducing bicameral legislation to combat Republican efforts to rig the rules and implement partisan racial gerrymanders before the next census. The Redistricting Reform Act of 2025 is co-led by Senators Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

As Republicans in state houses across the country heed President Trump's orders to redraw congressional maps in their favor, the bill would prohibit states from mid-decade redistricting and would require every state to adopt nonpartisan, independent redistricting commissions (IRCs). For the past 15 years, California has had its own IRC, and the state continues to push for similar commissions nationwide while fighting back against Texas and other Republican-controlled states' partisan mid-decade redistricting efforts.

"MAGA Republicans are afraid to run on their unpopular record of cutting health care and escalating tariff wars raising prices for consumers, so they're redrawing congressional maps to hand Donald Trump the congressional seats he says he's 'entitled' to," said Senator Padilla. "In response, California has no choice but to gear up for a fight. But there is a better way forward. By banning mid-decade gerrymanders and establishing fair criteria so districts are drawn to best represent communities, our bill presents a commonsense, nonpartisan solution to Donald Trump's power grab."

"The redistricting fight playing out across the country is not healthy for our democracy," said Senator Warnock. "We have to do everything we can to push back against the cynical attempt by the President and his allies to rig the maps, and hold them accountable for taking health care away from 15 million people. That is why passing legislation on the federal level, like the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025, is so important. This legislation would require every state to adopt nonpartisan, independent redistricting commissions and would prohibit states from mid-decade redistricting. We can end partisan gerrymandering today and ensure every American has a voice in their democracy. I encourage my colleagues across the aisle to join us in getting this done."

"Abusing the redistricting process is one of the most serious threats to democracy and our Constitution," said Senator King. "Not only does partisan and off-schedule redistricting damage and disenfranchise American citizens' fundamental right to vote, but it also contributes to rising polarization in Congress and further diminishes public faith in our political process. I'm proud to cosponsor this critical piece of legislation that will ensure the American people are accurately represented by their elected officials and hope that we can begin to discourage hyper partisan politics. Voters should choose their officials, not the other way around."

"Democrats are committed to ending partisan gerrymandering once and for all in a national redistricting reform. We made it our signature commitment when we controlled Congress in the past, and we have led by example in states like California. It is even more important now, when the president is trying to insulate his deeply unpopular cuts to health care by redrawing the lines in Texas and elsewhere. Elected officials should not be allowed to pick their own voters, instead of the other way around. And no president should be able to predetermine the outcome of an election by diluting the power of voters. The Redistricting Reform Act will address this terrible abuse of power," said Senator Schiff.

"President Trump has unleashed a redistricting war across the country, calling up Republican-controlled states and demanding that they rig their maps. Why? Because he's an unpopular President who has stripped healthcare from millions, and he knows that rigging the redistricting process is the only way his party doesn't lose the House in 2026," said Representative Lofgren. "When Democrats held the House, we passed independent redistricting in H.R. 1, but Senate Republicans killed it. It can't be just one side that agrees to stop gerrymandering; it needs to be both. I welcome the support of my Republican colleagues from California, since so many have recently expressed their support for a nonpartisan redistricting process."

"Our polling shows more than two-thirds of Americans know it's bad for our country when a single political party controls how voting districts are drawn," said Virginia Kase Solomón, President & CEO of Common Cause. "But that hasn't stopped Donald Trump, whose own voters reject the White House's mid-decade redistricting power grab. Common Cause proudly supports the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025, legislation that responds to Republican, Democrat, and Independent voters' demands for Congress to protect fair representation for all."

"The unprecedented and unpopular mid-decade power grabs in Texas and Missouri at the direction of Donald Trump underscore that the current system - a system protected by too many Republicans - does not work. An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose partisan gerrymandering because it leaves all citizens worse off by sowing extreme division, undermining equal representation, and boosting the influence of powerful special interests. We must pursue a bold, new vision for our country by building a system that gives power back to the people instead of compromised politicians," said Eric H. Holder, Jr., 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC). "The Redistricting Reform Act is a crucial step toward achieving that vision and putting our nation back on the path toward true democracy, where every state is required to have independent commissions draw the maps instead of power-hungry politicians and every state is held to the same standards to achieve fair maps. Any Republicans who demonstrate concern about the threat of gerrymandering should work with their Democratic colleagues to pass this bill right now to put a stop to both Donald Trump's gerrymandering scheme and unfair redistricting wherever it exists."

Specifically, the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025 would require IRCs to have 15 commissioners, evenly divided into three groups - majority party, minority party, and unaffiliated/minor party. The composition of each commission would be representative of the state's demographic and geographic diversity, with enough members from racial, ethnic, and language minority communities to allow meaningful participation in the redistricting process.

In line with the criteria listed below, each state redistricting plan must:

• Comply with the U.S. Constitution;
• Comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and all applicable federal laws;
• Ensure minorities receive equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect their preferred candidates; and
• Respect communities of interest, including shared interests and representational needs based on common ethnic, racial, economic, Tribal, social, cultural, geographic, or historic identities, or arising from similar socioeconomic conditions.

Under the bill, IRCs may not unduly favor or disfavor a party on a statewide basis and cannot use political data for determining districts, except to make sure that any plan complies with the first three criteria above to ensure it does not lead to partisan political bias. The legislation also mandates that IRCs hold at least three noticed public hearings and receive a majority vote, including a vote from all three political affiliation subgroups, before enacting a plan.

A three-judge court would help ensure IRCs are established by the necessary deadlines and enact their plans in line with the required deadline and public engagement opportunities. The bill also affords the U.S. Attorney General and private citizens the right to sue to remedy IRC issues that arise.

In July, Padilla convened a Rules and Judiciary Committee Democrats spotlight forum focused on racial gerrymandering and voter suppression, during which he questioned former Attorney General Eric Holder and Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt on the Trump Administration's efforts in Texas and other states to implement mid-decade racial redistricting for partisan political purposes. Padilla also applauded California for standing up to Trump and Texas Republicans' gerrymandering last month.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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