SACRAMENTO – One of the funniest types of people I meet in political circles is the person who takes all sorts of cheap partisan positions, then suddenly invokes some Deep Principle on a matter – as if any of us believe that person to be motivated by a consistent political philosophy. As confirmation of their cynicism, you’ll find the “principle” always aligns with their partisan interest.
You’ll see many office-holding Republicans take that transparent tack these days, as they declare the evils of Proposition 50, the temporary mid-decade redistricting proposal on the Nov. 4 ballot. Pick almost any state GOP official and you’ll find some overheated statement about why the Democrats’ hastily drawn proposed new maps rig congressional races and undermine the initiative that created an independent redistricting commission for Congress.
And they won’t be wrong. But are some points you won’t hear from them: A serious explanation about why Democrats put the measure on the ballot – or a condemnation of the multiple Republican-controlled legislatures in other states that are taking the exact same approach. They won’t criticize the one politician who triggered this nonsense.
That’s President Donald Trump, who urged Texas and other Red States to redistrict before the end of the decade in a shameless attempt to help the GOP pick up additional seats as we head toward the midterm elections. The Republican Party holds a slim House majority, so a slight shift can slow its agenda.
As the president posted on Truth Social: “Big WIN for the Great State of Texas!!! Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself. Texas never lets us down. Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing.”
This isn’t as ominous as, say, the GOP effort to steal the 2020 presidential election with absurd claims, bad lawyers and a mob attack on the Capitol. But it’s yet another GOP assault on democratic norms. Prop. 50 is the Democrats’ attempt to neuter these ill-gotten GOP gains. It’s not good, but it’s justifiable. It’s temporary, with the redrawing heading back to the commission in 2030.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-California, acted in a principled way when he proposed a bill that would ban mid-decade redistricting nationwide to stop the redistricting wars. Even though he stood to gain personally (his seat is at risk if voters approve Prop. 50), that was the sensible approach. The bill has stalled given the Trump-dominated GOP.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also was principled when he urged a “no” vote on Proposition 50, as he’s one of the few Republicans who has also complained about Trump’s anti-democratic shenanigans. In 2008, Schwarzenegger led the charge for Proposition 11, which applied the new independent district-drawing to state legislative races. In 2010, he supported Proposition 20, which did so for congressional boundaries.
Independent redistricting was a great reform. Democrats appallingly gamed the system early on by inserting their activists (rather than fair-minded community members) on the map-drawing panels. The system didn’t necessarily create more competitive districts as promised, but it did ultimately create districts that are more fairly drawn and eliminated the sleazy backroom dealing.
I dislike election reforms that try to achieve specific results, such as electing moderates (the goal of California’s controversial Top Two primary system) or, in this case, yield more Republican or Democratic representatives. True election reforms should improve representation – e.g., help assure that those elected better represent the interests of voters who elect them.
I have long favored increasing the number of state legislators. California has the worst ratio of voters to elected officials in its Assembly (one rep for every 483,000 voters v. one for every 3,290 in New Hampshire, which has the best ratio.) Lower ratios mean politicians who are more accountable and accessible. Fixing that problem is better than the plan by former Assembly GOP Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, to break the state in two – a fun thought experiment, but an unserious idea.
Republicans are right, however, that the rural North State already gets short shrift in a delegation dominated by urban interests. One of Prop. 50’s maps would put conservative Siskiyou County voters in the same district with liberal Marin County voters. You can guess based on population numbers who gets the short end of that stick.
But none of this is remotely related to any democratic principle. It’s about the parties using any tools at their disposal to gain more seats. In this case, the Republicans started it, which left the Democrats with the choice of rolling over or fighting back. Given how the Trump administration is sending troops to U.S. cities and unleashing ICE on the citizenry, I certainly understand why it’s on the ballot. I’d be more inclined to side with Republicans on the Prop. 50 debate if they, you know, showed a more principled adherence to the Constitution.
Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute and a member of the Southern California News Group editorial board. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.