Prop. 50 is an objectively bad measure that everyone should vote against.
Nearly two decades ago, California voters decided that having politicians draw their own districts was a bad idea and had the wisdom to create the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which does its best to draw fair congressional (and legislative) district maps.
By contrast, Prop. 50 is explicitly unfair, partisan and a trojan horse disguised as a means to fight president Donald Trump, but is actually just yet another desperate attempt by Gov. Gavin Newsom to ingratiate himself with Democratic voters nationally after years of falling flat on his face.
Newsom is ripping up the commission’s map that is drawn to consider the interests of community groups and replacing them with a map for which the stated goal is to elect as many Democratic lawmakers as possible.
It’s an abomination – an affront to good government and fair representation everywhere. Rural and inland California communities have been steamrolled by a Democratic supermajority in the Legislature for years and now many will lose a voice in Congress as well.
The politics of our time are poisonous, but Newsom is spiking the Kool-Aid even further because he so desperately wants to become president and thinks this is his best chance.
Of course, this probably is his best chance, but that is because he has wasted his six years as governor and has few accomplishments to run on.
This should give pause to anyone considering supporting this measure: Do you really want to boost Newsom’s national profile when he has sold out the state for attention at every turn?
Remember, if he becomes president, he’ll take his record of failure to Washington.
Surely there’s someone competent you’d rather see in office.
Surely?
Newsom’s ironically-titled “Stop Election Rigging” website that promotes this cynical effort claims Prop. 50 “reaffirms California’s commitment to independent redistricting.” How it accomplishes that by literally rigging maps and breaking California’s commitment to independent redistricting is unclear.
Democratic politicians are purportedly in favor of ending partisan redistricting (or gerrymandering), which is a common applause line in stump speeches.
In fact, the California Democratic Party’s platform says they aim to “(e)ncourage the use of independent redistricting commissions to draw districts.” But apparently the party only wants to encourage independent redistricting as long as it elects more Democrats.
I believe Democratic voters are sincere in opposing gerrymandering, but might be twisted up by a hatred for President Donald Trump. Newsom understands this so he’s made the entire election about stopping Trump, even if it means pitting voters against their principals and consciences turning them into hypocrites.
Will Prop. 50 stop Trump? Of course not. He’ll still be president no matter what happens with Prop. 50 and there will still likely be a Republican-controlled Senate after the 2026 election.
A Democratic-controlled House of Representatives could give Trump a harder time by calling oversight hearings, opposing Trump-supported legislation and possibly filing articles of impeachment.
But here’s the thing: If history is any guide, Democrats will likely take the House anyway. In 20 of the past 22 midterm elections, the President’s party lost ground in the House, with losses tied to the president’s approval rating.
Currently, Trump’s approval rating is somewhere between -2 and -18, according to recent polls, and headed in the wrong direction. History suggests that the higher the disapproval rate, the larger the losses, and Republicans have only a very slim majority in the House.
In other words, California Democrats don’t need to be corrupt to take back the House; they just have to find an appealing message and win some elections.
Newsom, in an effort to seem tough to national Democratic voters, called for the Prop. 50 mid-decade redistricting effort because of Republican-led gerrymandering efforts in other states, which are equally bad (because gerrymandering is bad).
“This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy,” he said.
That statement could easily describe Prop. 50. If rigging maps is so bad, why are you doing it, governor? If it is an affront to American Democracy, why are you doing it?
By the way, Democrats in other states are also trying mid-district partisan gerrymandering – are those efforts an affront to democracy too?
Are we going to do this every time a Democrat loses an election in California? Newsom is setting that precedent. What’s to stop anyone from doing this again?
To put this monstrosity on the ballot is costing California taxpayers more than $280 million. And that includes $2 million to correct the Secretary of State accidentally sending out erroneous voter guides in a rushed effort to meet Newsom’s timeline. That money could be spent in myriad ways that would be more worthwhile.
Newsom is hoping to pass Prop. 50 with anti-Trump sentiment that he can ride to the White House; but for voters it will be a cheap high. Voting for Prop. 50 might feel good at the time but when it’s done a good-government reform will be shredded and Trump will still be president.
Prop. 50 is a waste of money. It’s toxic. It sets a bad precedent. It is unlikely to accomplish its stated goals, especially when other tactics would be more effective and moral. And all of it is purely to feed the ego of one desperate governor who is only in this position desperate for attention because he has failed to improve the state in any meaningful way for the past six years.
It doesn’t have to be like this – there’s another path forward. We’re told constantly that California leads the nation in this or that – why can’t we lead the nation in doing the right thing?
Prop. 50 is terrible. Demand better by voting no.
Matt Fleming is an opinion columnist for the Southern California News Group. Email him at flemingwords@gmail.com and follow him on X @FlemingWords.