Gov. Gavin Newsom signs Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8 last month, adopting a temporary congressional map to counteract potential gerrymandering efforts in Texas. State voters will decide on Proposition 50 in a special election Nov. 4.
Photo by Antonio Ray Harvey
By McKenzie Jackson
Contributing Writer
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom joined Democratic leaders and national influencers to rally support and funding for a November California ballot measure that seeks to redraw the state’s congressional maps, positioning it as a counter to Republican gerrymandering in Texas and other GOP-led states.
Held on Sept. 16, the event lasted several hours and was livestreamed for a wider audience.
Newsom explained that California’s Election Rigging Response Act, also known as Proposition 50, is essential to Democrats’ chance to win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm election and stop the Republican-led Congress from solidifying President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
“It’s Prop. 50 for a reason,” Newsom said. “It impacts all 50 states. Donald Trump realizes and recognizes that he is likely — almost overwhelmingly — to lose the midterms. He is trying to hold on to power. The only way he can hold onto power is to rig the system.”
California’s top Democrat noted that five new Republican seats in the House are likely to be delivered to Trump in Texas through gerrymandering and the president’s allies in other red states are focused on doing the same before next year’s election.
“This is a profound and consequential moment in American history,” Newsom said. “We could lose this republic if we do not assert ourselves and stand tall at this moment and stand guard to this republic and our democracy. I feel that in my bones.”
One million dollars in small donations was raised during the “Yes on 50” virtual campaign rally that featured words from a litany of high-profile Democratic figures and grassroots organizers including U.S. Reps. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, and Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and former first lady and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Podcasters, including Jessiah Eberlan and Katie Phang, and content creator Harry Sisson also appeared on the livestream, along with actor and activist Martin Sheen.
Proposition 50 will ask Californians to vote “yes” or “no” to adopting new maps that could create as many as five new safe seats in Congress for Democrats, which would offset Texas’s newly carved Republican congressional districts.
Supporters say it is a one-time correction to counterbalance unfair maps drawn in Republican-led states.
Opponents such as former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger argue that Proposition 50 undermines the voter-approved California Citizens Redistricting Commission and opens the door to partisan gerrymandering in California.
During an appearance at USC last week, Schwarzenegger said Democrats want to eliminate the state’s redistricting commission.
“They want to get rid of it under the auspices of, ‘We have to fight Trump.’ Doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said. “Two bad behaviors don’t make a right behavior. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
So far, the fundraising effort behind the ballot measure has gained momentum.
At press time, around $70 million had been raised in less than two months for Proposition 50. The family of George Soros, a prominent Democratic financier, has contributed $10 million to the effort.
On both sides of the issue, Democratic and Republican donors are expected to spend as much as $200 million to influence voters before the Nov. 4 election.
The “Yes on 50” livestream was originally set for the evening of Sept. 10, but it was rescheduled after the fatal shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk at an event in Utah earlier that day.
Newsom said Kirk was the debut guest on his “This is Gavin Newsom,” podcast in January, and he urged people to hold themselves to a higher level of civility and accountability in political discourse in the wake of Kirk’s death.
“I spent not just the hour-plus in a very civil conversation with Charlie, I spent time with him after,” Newsom said. “We stayed in touch — including my team — we stayed in touch pretty consistently. That is the spirit I want to bring to this conversation.
“One of civility; one of grace; one of humanity. Obviously, there were deep differences of opinion. Obviously, he was very offended by positions I hold dear, and I in turn was offended by things that he said and positions he held. But the fact is, we had that opportunity to engage.”
Kirk’s murder and the harshness of the national political discourse have been grabbing news headlines across the nation. Speakers during the rally remained focused on Proposition 50, though.
Gomez said the upcoming special election is not a “normal election,” and if Democrats don’t win the midterm election next year, Trump and his supporters will make cuts to programs such as Medicaid and SNAP and continue to give tax breaks to big businesses and the nation’s wealthiest people.
“If we don’t win back the House, we are looking at a permanent version of MAGA America,” he said. “Not for two years, but at least for the next 10 years. If you do not want this permanent version of America that is being developed — that is being built — bit-by-bit by Donald Trump and the billionaire establishment, then we’ve got to pass Proposition 50.”
“A Democratic majority would be able to prevent meaningful harm to the American people now,” added Eberlan, the host of “Pondering Politics.”
Garcia accused Trump of weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice to silence critics and attack courts, law firms and academic institutions.
“We need people’s support,” he said. “We need them to come out and support Prop. 50. We have to be all in because this could mean us essentially being able to stop the Trump agenda and dramatically slow it down.”
Sheen, known for his outspoken activism, did not mince his words, calling Trump a “madman,” and assailing officials in his administration.
“Yes on 50,” Sheen said. “Please God, yes.”
McKenzie Jackson is a reporter for California Black Media.
