As Texas hurtles toward a flashpoint on a GOP effort to redraw congressional districts, California Democrats are answering with a plan of their own.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California leaders said Thursday that the California Legislature will introduce and approve the state's response to an escalating partisan redistricting arms race starting early next week.

The move reflects a growing sense of urgency on the left as Republican-led states embrace an extremist tactic to disenfranchise voters.