At Victoria event, Abbott criticizes California and defends Texas redistricting

During media questions after the Victoria signing, Governor Greg Abbott pivoted from the campus announcement to national political issues, offering sharp criticism of California and defending the recent Texas redistricting maps.

Asked by reporters, Abbott said, "California is a joke," and argued that polling shows "two thirds of the people of the state of California already do not support" Governor Gavin Newsom. He said California will face legal challenges to its maps that he expects will be resolved differently than challenges in Texas.

Abbott also referenced a federal appeals-court ruling, saying it held that coalition districts are not required and that the 2021 Texas maps therefore did not need to adhere to prior coalition-district constructions. "What is allowed, by the United States Supreme Court, is drawing maps for political reasons," he said, and he argued Texas's maps were drawn consistent with current legal standards.

On voter behavior, Abbott asserted that Hispanics and African Americans in Texas "are voting Republican" and that those voters were leaving the Democratic Party in part because of policy positions on border security, sports and public safety. The governor said those patterns, combined with population shifts and a potential new census, could add congressional seats to Texas while reducing seats in some blue states.

The transcript records these claims and the governor's legal interpretation as his responses to media questions; the event record does not include rebuttals or outside evidence for the assertions made during the Q&A.

The ceremony closed after these media exchanges; no further legal documents or litigation outcomes were presented during the event.