California Democrats may have successfully muscled a new congressional map through the state legislature this week, but the redistricting fight in the Golden State is only just beginning.

So did California Democrats, especially Gov. Gavin Newsom. In a matter of weeks, they bluffed themselves into the marquee political contest of Trump’s second term, a high-voltage fight to shape the outcome of the 2026 midterms and the remaining years of his presidency.

It’s 1962 again, only this time the Cold War pits Democrat against Republican for control of the US House of Representatives — and potentially over the last two years of the Trump presidency. A mid-decade redraw of congressional maps gone nationwide would have implications far beyond the 2026 midterms,