By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
(CNN) — Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denounced congressional redistricting efforts happening across the United States, describing them as cheating in an interview airing on “CNN’s State of the Union” on Sunday.
“There’s this war going on all over the United States. Who can out cheat the other one?” the action star and Republican former governor, who served from 2003 to 2011, told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Texas started it. They did something terribly wrong. And then all of a sudden California says, ‘Well, then we have to do something terribly wrong.’ And then now other states are jumping in.”
Schwarzenegger’s comments come as GOP state lawmakers press on with efforts to redraw their congressional maps at the behest of President Donald Trump, who wants to ensure the Democrats don’t win control of the House in next year’s midterm elections. States like California and Virginia, where Democrats would control the redistricting levers, are also looking into moves that would benefit them.
Efforts in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina bring the total number of new Republican-friendly districts created this year to seven. Indiana and Kansas are also looking to potentially redraw their maps to favor the GOP.
While redistricting in states such as Texas — which kicked off the efforts — are passed by the state legislature, California’s moves must be approved by voters. The effort in California, Proposition 50, would allow Democrats to replace maps drawn by an independent commission with new maps that could help the party flip as many as five GOP-held US House seats. A special election to approve the measure is scheduled for November 4.
Schwarzenegger, who backed the ballot initiatives that created the independent commission drawing the state’s congressional and state lines, noted that the race to redistrict before the midterms “saddens” him.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has touted Prop 50 as “foundational.” When asked about Schwarzenegger’s opposition to it last week, Newsom said people need “to wake up to these new realities” and “spare me the moral high ground.”
Responding to a clip of Newsom’s comments, Schwarzenegger acknowledged his friendship with California’s current governor, but said Democrats “should outperform Trump” instead of redistricting.
“You know, we are friends, and we get along, and he came to me and told me about this situation, and we have been working on this without attacking each other and all of that,” he said.
“To me, it’s all about competition,” he said, dismissing the idea that because other states redistrict, that California should follow. “That’s not really the way to go. One party should outperform the other party. It should be performance.”
CNN’s Eric Bradner, Arlette Saenz, Ethan Cohen, Arit John, Fredreka Schouten and Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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