WASHINGTON (TNND) — Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is making himself the leader of the resistance against President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress with his own plan to gerrymander his state’s House maps in response to Texas and taking on the White House on a range of issues as the party’s voters push their elected leaders to do more.

Newsom, who has long been considered a likely candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, has made several moves this year that some observers see as early posturing for the next presidential election, including trips to early voting states like South Carolina to rally voters.

He has made himself a frequent presence in national media, confronted the White House over immigration raids that resulted in widespread protests in Los Angeles and has recently taken to mocking the president’s writing style on social media with posts lambasting Trump and vowing to “end his presidency” by helping Democrats take back the House in 2026.

Redistricting has emerged as a political flashpoint playing out across the country in response to Texas’ plans to wipe out five Democratic seats with new maps that has spurred blue state governors to threaten to move forward with their own mid-decade map redraws and get involved with Texas state Democrats’ fight.

“What you're seeing with Newsom is a ‘fight fire with fire’ that a lot of Democrats probably have been yearning for,” said Rob Alexander, a political science professor at Bowling Green. “In fact, that's one of the attractions of Trump to a lot of Republicans, is that he's willing to get in the mud and do what he has to do in order to win. A lot of Democrats have been looking for an alternative from their party to fight that same type of fight.”

The tit-for-tat redistricting push to counter Texas is Newsom’s most direct challenge yet to Trump’s grip on Republican politics and the national political discourse.

“We can’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country," Newsom said. “We are not bystanders in this world. We can shape the future.”

He has also encouraged Democrats to take more of a stand against Trump in travels to early voting states like South Carolina, which is currently the first state in the Democratic presidential primary calendar.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive. We’ve got to get back on our toes, not our heels,” Newsom said during one of his trips. “The Democratic Party for too long has been on the receiving end.”

The redistricting push comes as Democratic voters have gotten increasingly frustrated with their party’s perceived failures to stand up to Trump and his Republican majorities in Congress. Democrats’ image with voters recently hit an all-time low with 63% of voters holding an unfavorable view of the party and Americans trusting Republicans more to handle the major issues facing the country.

While the party has had recent struggles with independents, most of its image decline is driven by frustration from its own supporters for failing to sufficiently stand up to Trump as he unleashes an avalanche of executive orders reshaping the federal government and Republicans in Congress have been able to steamroll legislation like the tax cut and spending bill over Democratic objections.

Locked out of power until at least next year’s midterms, Democrats have little ability to win concessions from Republicans aside from leveraging the Senate filibuster to hold up must-pass bills like funding the government. Some Democrats have threatened to shut down the government if Republicans are unwilling to engage in a bipartisan funding process, citing what they see as a need to fight back against the failures of the Trump administration, but the strategy also comes with political risks and hasn’t yet been fully embraced by leadership.

Outside of Congress, Newsom is leading the charge for Democrats to wield power where they have it to draw a contrast with the Trump administration. California has long been a hotbed for Democratic politics, and its governorship provides a big stage to make national headlines and boost name recognition that will be vital once primary season starts.

“Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back,” Newsom said.

True campaigning for the Democratic nomination is still years away, but Newsom has an early leg up on the field in limited polling. Newsom is in third place behind former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, according to a national polling average by Race to the White House.

“There’s a lot of baggage there, he’s not a blank slate, which typically is a better place to be, I think, when you're trying to appeal to folks that don't know a lot of policy,” Alexander said. “He might serve the purpose to punch back, but how far that can go? I'm not so sure.”