California Democrats are hoping to turn the push for voters to approve new congressional maps into a referendum on Trump.

The swift passage was a decisive victory for Governor Gavin Newsom, widely seen as a possible 2028 White House contender whose national political stature has climbed as he led Democrats' charge against what they decried as an attempted power grab in the Republican-led state of Texas.

California's Democratic-controlled legislature formally approved a plan Thursday to redraw the state's congressional lines, teeing up a special election this fall that will let Californians weigh in on mid-decade redistricting in response to a plan pushed by Texas Republicans.