Schwarzenegger lends his star power to fight against Newsom’s redistricting scheme

The opposition to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s partisan gerrymandering scheme is getting a boost from the star power of iconic action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The 78-year-old “Terminator” actor who served as the Golden State’s Republican governor for eight years is pushing back hard against the ambitious Democrat who seeks to use the redistricting effort to propel him into a 2028 White House run.

The Hollywood icon is urging California voters to “terminate gerrymandering” as Newsom seeks to further relegate the GOP to an irrelevant minority in the one-party state, backing a special election in November that will give Democrats five additional House seats, offsetting losses in Texas, which recently rolled back the type of race-based gerrymandering that Democrats have used to unfairly game the system.

I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle. pic.twitter.com/Lbgr1bnGw8

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) August 15, 2025

“F*** the politicians. Terminate gerrymandering,” read a shirt that Schwarzenegger wore in an August post to X, pumping iron as he did during his career as a world-class professional bodybuilder.

“I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,” wrote the “Commando” star.

Newsom’s dirty scheme would replace the nonpartisan redistricting commission responsible for drawing district boundaries if approved. The commission is seen by Schwarzenegger as a part of his legacy as California’s last Republican governor.

“Schwarzenegger was and is a Republican, but there are certain issues that separate him pretty dramatically from the party mainstream. One of those was his work on climate change legislation, but his reform legacy might be what makes him most proud,” former GOP strategist Dan Schnur told The Hill.

“He sees it as under threat,” Schnur added.

The former governor blasted redistricting in a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle, referring to both California and Texas.

Read my interview with the Houston Chronicle.

“I just say very simply, it is very wrong what they’re doing to Texas and it is very wrong what they’re trying to do in California. It is not at all serving the people. It is serving the party.” https://t.co/1RMghQ2Zd3

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) August 17, 2025

“I just say very simply, it is very wrong what they’re doing to Texas, and it is very wrong what they’re trying to do in California. It is not at all serving the people. It is serving the party,” he said.

Democrats have bastardized the term “democracy” as a cloak for their authoritarian agenda, and the Sacramento slickster invoked the D-word as justification for his anti-Democratic power grab, presenting himself as democracy’s savior.

“We’re giving the people of this state the power to save democracy, not just in California, but all across the United States of America,” said Newsom, now the 2028 Democrat frontrunner whose escalation in anti-Trump demagoguery has snatched the spotlight away from AOC.

“I’m thinking now about California, and about the people of California. I promised them that we are going to create a commission that would be independent of the politicians, and there will be an independent citizens’ commission drawing the lines. So I’m not going to go back on my promise. I’m going to fight for my promise,” the actor told the New York Times in an interview last month, also saying that it’s nothing “personal” with Newsom.

“He was kind enough to let me know what he’s up to and how he feels,” he said. “I told him: ‘I totally get it. I understand it.’ I said, ‘There’s no effect on our relationship.’”