Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger indicated Friday he is ready to “terminate” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to pursue mid-decade redistricting in the state, posting on social media that he is “getting ready for the gerrymandering battle.”
In his post on X, Schwarzenegger included a photograph of himself lifting weights while wearing a T-shirt that said “[Expletive] the politicians” and “terminate gerrymandering.”
California Democrats are moving to redraw congressional maps in response to a proposed Texas map that could give Republicans five more House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
At a rally on Thursday, Newsom said the state intends to place maps on the ballot for voters to decide.
“We’re putting maps on the ballot, and we’re giving the power to the people,” he said. “This will be the first redistricting that’s ever done that. That’s the difference.”
The governor has said the proposal would not dismantle California’s independent redistricting commission, which was established to create legislative and congressional districts without direct political control. A special election on the proposal is expected in November.
Schwarzenegger was instrumental in creating the commission and has long argued against partisan gerrymandering, according to The Hill.
His spokesman, Daniel Ketchell, said earlier this year that the Republican former governor “has a 20-year history of battling gerrymandering, taking power from the politicians and returning it to the people where it belongs.”
Schwarzenegger, his spokesman added in a statement, “believes gerrymandering is evil no matter who does it. He still stands by the rule we learn in preschool: two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Ketchell said Schwarzenegger would continue to side “with the people and not politicians from either party on this issue.”
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