"Newsom asks Colorado to join redistricting fight after California House map win: Can we?" Published on Nov. 6, 2025, at FOX31
After an election night that gave Democrats big wins across the country, lawmakers are looking more to blue states, including Colorado, to join in the momentum in combatting GOP efforts for control.
Tuesday’s odd-year election saw states like Virginia flip its governor’s office blue and elect its first woman governor, New York City elect democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and California voters approve a congressional redistricting map that will likely hand Democrats several U.S. House seats in 2026.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom in praising his state for approving the new U.S. House map also called on several other states to join in the redistricting fight, as Republicans are still ahead.
“We need our friends in New York, in Illinois, in Colorado,” Newsom said. “We need to see other states that are remarkable leaders that have been doing remarkable things meet this moment head on as well to recognize what we’re up against in 2026.”
State leaders are already encouraging Coloradans to consider redistricting, but joining in the fight for the 2026 midterms appears off the table for the Centennial State.
Attorney General Phil Weiser, also a gubernatorial candidate, in late October raised the issue of redistricting, saying Colorado can’t just stand by while other states ignore “long-established norm.”
“This is about defending our democracy,” Weiser said in a release ahead of Tuesday’s elections. “When other states break long-established norms and do mid-decade redistricting, Colorado can’t stand idly by and just watch. We’re not going to let those changing the rules to get an unfair advantage benefit from those efforts; Colorado must be ready to step up and do our part.”
Colorado’s constitution, however, limits redistricting to once every ten years by a voter-approved independent redistricting commission, and changing this rule would require another constitutional amendment to be approved by voters.
Even if Colorado were to consider such an amendment, though, it wouldn’t have been able to be on Tuesday’s ballot, as state law mandates odd-year elections can only have tax- and TABOR-related issues on the ballot.
A constitutional amendment in Colorado would also need 55% of the vote to pass.
Gov. Jared Polis responded to calls for Colorado to redistrict, saying he would consider any initiative on the issue but is more focused on delivering blows to Trump’s agenda where Coloradans can now.
“I would evaluate any citizen-driven proposal that makes the ballot on this issue, but I’m laser-focused on winning in Colorado and defeating Trump-aligned members of Congress who have failed to address the affordability crisis and instead made everything from health care to groceries more expensive,” Polis said in a statement. “Ultimately, this would be up to a vote of the people it a citizen-driven proposal made the ballot.”
The soonest Coloradans could consider an amendment to change state redistricting rules would be in 2026, which would still be too late to consider changes for the 2028 election as well.
Another gubernatorial candidate, Sen. Michael Bennet said that while Colorado joining in the redistricting battle soon is off the table, Coloradans should still prioritize challenging Trump.
“All options should be on the table to defend our democracy, but changing the maps in 2028 is too late,” Bennet told FOX31 in part. “Every Democrat in Colorado needs to be focused on flipping the House of Representatives in 2026 so we can put a real check on Donald Trump.”
The unusual mid-decade redistricting fray began this summer when President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to reshape their voting districts to try to help the GOP retain control of the House in next year’s election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
