California governor Gavin Newsom has launched an all-out push to counter Donald Trump’s Texas redistricting with a midterms power grab of his own, and he’s exhibiting considerable gusto for the fight:

Donald Trump and Greg Abbott are going to have a very bad day today.

Newsom’s eagerness is understandable. At a time when Democrats in California and nationally want more combativeness from their politicians, Newsom is engaging in a personal clash with the 47th president with very high stakes that he claims he can win. If he does indeed succeed in giving Democrats five additional U.S. House seats to offset the five that Texas Republicans are in the process of purloining with a mid-decade redistricting, then he can arguably make himself the face of a Democratic comeback in the midterms at the very moment his own power is ebbing in Sacramento (he’s term-limited). It would not actually “end the Trump presidency” as Newsom chortled in a social-media post yesterday, but a Democratic House would definitely complicate life for our would-be authoritarian leader in Washington.

Newsom’s self-confidence, however, is likely a bit of a ruse. There are three major risks for him and for his party in the retaliation strategy he is pursuing.

At the moment, Trump’s power grab is confined to Texas, which was already holding a legislative special session that was relatively easy for the president to hijack. Retaliation by California Democrats could make it easier for additional........

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