The 83-year-old former Illinois Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, is scheduled to report to prison on Oct. 13.
“His legacy of gerrymandering will continue to shape Illinois politics long after he’s behind bars,” wrote Patrick Andriesen of Illinois Policy in June. “Madigan’s Rules” for shaping political districts “empowered Democratic lawmakers to choose their voters and political opponents for decades; they’re still doing so,” he wrote. “This process of redesigning legislative maps each decade has allowed Democrat-majority lawmakers to reshape Illinois’ voting districts to best suit their needs while diluting the voting power of their Republican and independent opponents.”
Madigan was sentenced to seven and a half years behind bars for bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud, but that doesn’t stop him from being a role model for California Gov. Gavin Newsom. From Newsom’s perspective, Democrats must claw their way back into power in Washington, and Texas’ latest redistricting has made that harder. Therefore, reshaping voting districts and “diluting the voting power of their Republican and independent opponents” has to be on the agenda in California.
But it also has to be on the ballot.
That’s because it will take a constitutional amendment, requiring voter approval, to override what the voters added to the state constitution in 2008 and 2010: an independent Citizens’ Redistricting Commission to draw the district maps for state elected offices and congressional races.
California voters used the initiative process to take the map-drawing power away from the politicians, and now the politicians want the voters to give it back.
Just say no.
California Democrats sound ridiculous as they wrap their brazenly partisan goal in lofty rhetoric about “saving democracy” and “fair elections,” then absurdly celebrate that it’s only “temporary.”
Here’s what’s really happening: Proposition 50 is a constitutional amendment that throws out the congressional district maps drawn by the independent Citizens’ Redistricting Commission and replaces them for the next three congressional elections with maps drawn Illinois-style, by politicians seeking a partisan or personal advantage.
As one example, the proposed California congressional maps break apart the more conservative rural counties and connect pieces of them to coastal communities heavily populated with voters who are far more liberal. The ranchers of rural Modoc County in the northeast corner of the state were drawn into the same district as wealthy Marin County residents roughly 400 miles away.
Compare that to the mission of the 14-member Citizens’ Redistricting Commission, which states on its website that it seeks the public’s input to ensure that “district lines are drawn to keep your community whole to the extent possible, and grouped with nearby communities with similar interests. This ensures that your voice is heard by your elected leaders when making such decisions as the quality and funding of your child’s education or determining your tax rates.”
Do the residents of Modoc and Marin see eye-to-eye on education and taxes? Not likely. Which group will have the ear of the newly drawn district’s elected member of Congress, and which group will be effectively disenfranchised?
California Democrats don’t want to talk about that. They want to talk about winning the majority in the House of Representatives and “stopping Trump,” whatever that means. It seems to mean they want an open border, secure taxpayer-funded benefits for undocumented immigrants, males competing in female sports competitions, higher energy costs and higher taxes.
If these are not your goals, vote no on Proposition 50.
By the way, it’s called Proposition 50 because there are 50 states, and Gov. Newsom insists that his goal is for all 50 to have citizens’ redistricting commissions. Until they all do, he contends, California can’t be alone in its high-mindedness.
But we’re not seeing a surge of reforms across the country. Instead, we’re seeing something like a partisan arms race.
Last month, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a new law redrawing that state’s congressional district maps in a way that likely elects one more Republican. This week, Kansas Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins began the process of calling a special redistricting session with the aim of defeating the state’s one Democrat in Congress, and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has reportedly asked state lawmakers to call a special redistricting session in November that could oust the state’s two Democratic U.S. House representatives.
In all, roughly a dozen states including Florida are kicking around proposals for mid-decade redistricting.
In 2008 and even more strongly in 2010, Californians voted to end politician-drawn maps and have an independent commission draw the district maps every ten years following the U.S Census.
Proposition 50 is an insult to California voters. This special election is a pointless temper tantrum by a party out of power in Washington.
It’s also a reckless expenditure of $280 million of public money at a time when the state is in a budget emergency and plundering the rainy day fund.
Vote no on Proposition 50.
Write Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on X @Susan_Shelley