Newsom says CA will hold special election to combat Trump, TX redistricting

All states gerrymander. Both major parties do, too. The problem is the system of laws and practices that allow them to do it.

Not all states, no. Of the ones that do, on balance (seat count) it helps Rs. I agree with you there, it's a prisoner's dilemma of sorts.

So, am I understanding this correctly?

TX has D's at 12/38s with proposed changes bringing D's to 7/38s (ie 31% to 18% D)

And in retaliation, CA wants R's to go down from 9/52's to 4/52's (ie 17% to 8% R)?

BTW, IL has R's at 3/17s (ie 18% R).

But, somehow, TX changing the D's percent to match CA's and IL's R percent is somehow beyond the pale?

it sounds like there's the possibility to shift the balance of 5 seats - however don't CA and a few other blue states have explicit rules against gerrymandering that preclude a tit for tat response?

The article is regarding a ballot initiative proposed by Governor Newsom which if approved by the voters would allow an exception to the law.