From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.

The gerrymander wars heat up again as California Governor Gavin Newsom says he'll change the district's maps in California in order to give Democrats five more seats in the House of Representatives, if Texas goes ahead with its Republican plan to add five more Republican seats in redistricting.

Can Newsom make that work?

And how will that affect Republican plans in Missouri, Ohio, Florida, as the mid-decade redistricting battles continue before the 2026 election.

And how is all of this going to be affected going forward in the future as Americans continue to move out of some of the most heavily Democratic states into Republican-run states like Texas, Florida, Utah, and

others. So welcome to Potomac Watch. I'm Paul as you go. This is our daily podcast for WSJ

opinion. And I'm here with Kim Strassel and Alicia Finley. Let's listen to Gavin Newsom on

Instagram, talk about his plans for redistricting in California.

It's time to make another phone call to Greg Abbott. This time, instead of calling them and

telling you're, quote, unquote, entitled to five congressional seats. It's time to tell him

to stand down. It's time to recognize that democracy is at risk. It's time to, dare I say,

do the right thing. Actually, see how that feels for you doing the right thing. If you don't,

California will neutralize anything you do in the state of Texas. California will continue

to punch above its weight. We believe in democracy. We believe in the enduring

values of our founding fathers. 249 years. We're not going to sit back passively. We're not going to

sit back and watch you light democracy on fire. Well, Gavin Newsom's already running for president.

We know. And he's made the big issue of this redistricting battle.

But let's look at the math here, Alicia. California has 52 seats. Democrats have 43 of them.

Republicans have nine, if I'm correct. That's a pretty heavily gerrymandered map for Democrats.

Can he really get those Republicans

seats down to four in the state? Well, I think what he would have to do is to draw these kinds

of districts that you see in Illinois, which stretch out these tentacles from San Francisco all the

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