Some California Democrats broke with Gov Gavin Newsom over his mid-decade redistricting push, with Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains casting the lone Democratic “no” vote as lawmakers advanced the plan to the November ballot last week; two other Democrats, Dawn Addis and Alex Lee, did not vote. The Assembly approved the constitutional amendment 57-20 on Aug. 21, and the Senate passed it 30-8 hours later.
The proposal — which will appear to voters as Proposition 50 — would temporarily suspend California’s independent congressional map and replace it with a Legislature-drawn map designed to add multiple Democratic-leaning districts. Newsom has framed the move as a response to Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redraw urged by former President Donald Trump.
At a signing event on Aug. 21, Newsom said Democrats need to “play ball.”
“We just can’t think differently, we have to act differently,” Newsom argued, after the Legislature voted to call a Nov. 4 special election on the measure.
Republicans blasted the plan as a power grab that overturns the voter-approved independent redistricting. “There’s really only one way to stop – someone has to refrain from striking back, and show a better way,” Assembly GOP leader James Gallagher said during floor debate. President Donald Trump has also threatened to sue the state over the plan.
On Wednesday, Aug. 27, the California Supreme Court denied a Republican emergency petition seeking to block Prop. 50 from the ballot, clearing the way for the campaign to proceed.
Voters created California’s Redistricting Commission in 2008 and extended it to congressional maps in 2010. Prop. 50 would be a one-time exception through 2030; the state would return to commission-drawn lines after the next census. Analyses by CalMatters indicate the Newsom-backed map could flip up to five GOP-held seats.
Bains’ “no” was the only Democratic vote against ACA 8 in the Assembly; Addis and Lee did not vote. The Senate vote was lopsided in favor, 30-8.
