California Gov. Gavin Newsom is upset with Texas.
There’s a reason he should be upset. California companies are pulling up in droves and moving to the Lone Star State and elsewhere.
But that isn’t what’s bothering him. Newsom cares about politics and power, not markets and business.
He’s upset that the Texas state legislature is moving to redistricting that could add up to five Republican seats in 2026. So, Newsom wants to redistrict, which could add another five Democrat seats in California.
California’s congressional districts are already gerrymandered to death to favor Democrats -- 17% of the State’s 52 congressional seats are held by Republicans in a state in which Donald Trump garnered 38% of the popular vote in 2024.
In ballot initiatives in 2008 and 2010, Californians amended the state constitution to establish an independent redistricting commission, with five representatives from each party and four unaffiliated, to take rote politics out of the process.
But removing rote politics for Gavin Newsom is like asking the LA Dodgers to show up for a game without bats, balls and gloves.
Newsom wants to circumvent the commission by putting new district maps for 2026 before voters in a special ballot initiative this November.
It is too bad Newsom’s obsession is accumulating power rather than improving his state.
Just listen to one Orange County resident -- much followed economist and blogger Scott Grannis. From Grannis’s latest post, which he calls “California Leavin’:”
“Between 2020 and 2025, approximately 500 companies have moved their headquarters out of California or shifted significant operations elsewhere, with a notable spike in relocations since 2019. From 2018 to 2021 alone, the Hoover Institution reported 352 companies relocating their headquarters out of the state.”
Grannis continues: “Government has become increasingly lazy and dysfunctional; the roads are a mess, traffic is the bane of everyday existence, taxes and regulations are oppressive, and modest cottages start at $1 million.”
U-Haul annually reports its U-Haul Growth Index. This ranks the 50 states according to “each state’s net gain (or loss) of customers utilizing one-way U-Haul equipment in a calendar year.”
Which state was first in one-way departures out of the state for the last five years? Yes, you’re right. “California Leavin’”
And what state was number two in the nation in arrivals into the state in 2024? Yes, Texas, the Lone Star State. Texas has ranked first or second every year since 2016.
According to visualcapitalist.com, of the top five cities in the U.S. with new corporate headquarters openings from 2018 to 2024, three are in Texas -- Dallas, Austin and Houston. The other two are in Nashville and Phoenix. All five are in red states in 2024.
In the top five cities for corporate headquarters closures from 2018 to 2024, three of five are in California. San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area. The other two are Chicago and New York City. All five are in blue states in 2024.
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies documents which states had the largest migration gains from 2014 to 2024 and which states had the largest losses.
Of the top 10 that gained over this period, seven of 10 were red states in 2024. Of the top 10 losers over this period, seven of 10 were blue states in 2024.
Needless to say, Texas is in the top 10 gainers. It is a state that is booming because it provides a tax and regulatory environment conducive to those who want to work and grow. It makes all the sense in the world, with the huge influx of businesses and people, that the Texas population landscape has changed dramatically since the last census. There is rationale for the redistricting initiative in Texas.
But in California, Newsom just wants to institutionalize failure.
Let’s hope, in the interest of Californians, that he doesn’t manage to get this misguided initiative on the ballot. And if he does, that it fails.
Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Her recent book, “What Is the CURE for America?” is available now.
