CA’s Prop 50 campaign heats up as ballots head to voters in two weeks

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In just two weeks, California voters will begin receiving ballots for the November special election – and the fight over Proposition 50 is already in full swing.

The measure would change California’s congressional maps mid-decade, and both parties are pouring millions into campaign ads aimed at swaying voters. Governor Gavin Newsom is pitching Prop 50 as a way to restore checks and balances on former President Donald Trump, potentially helping Democrats gain five more U.S. House seats in response to newly-approved Texas gerrymandered maps that do the inverse.

But Republicans are pushing back, accusing top Democrats of hypocrisy and warning voters about a long-term power grab.

“They want to draw their own district lines,” said state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach. “And the politicians definitely don’t want to have to compete with the voters.”

Strickland said a bulk of voters he has encountered during canvassing are unaware of the Nov. 4 special election on redistricting.

MORE: Trump, California Republicans move to block Newsom’s redistricting ballot measure

“It’s about educating the voters of what this really is,” he said. “If the yes passes, it’s bad for Democrats, independents and Republicans because we’ve had predetermined elections in perpetuity moving forward. And I think most voters want their voice to count come Election Day.”

The “No on Prop 50” campaign tells ABC7 News it plans to target not just Republicans, but independents and Democrats through television and digital ads, mailers and canvassing. One of their paramount arguments already hitting the airwaves is that Prop 50 undermines the independent redistricting commission voters approved in 2008 and reaffirmed in 2010, and sets the precedent to eliminate it altogether in the future.

Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the No on 50 campaign, told ABC7 News the group plans to spotlight prominent Democrats past opposition to citizen-led independent redistricting – including Newsom, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla

“All three of the lifelong politicians that have signed on the ballot argument for the yes on 50 side have a long track record of opposing citizens redistricting commissions,” Patterson said. “They do not want this power to reside with the people. And that is because it threatens their own power.”

While Pelosi and Padilla previously donated against the 2010 proposition that gave a nonpartisan redistricting commission the power to draw California’s congressional maps, both now publicly support it. Last week, Padilla introduced federal legislation to ban gerrymandering nationwide and require all states to adopt independent models.

MORE: Prop 50: Schwarzenegger urges voters to reject ballot proposal on redrawn congressional maps

Newsom continues to emphasize that Prop 50 is a temporary fix, not a permanent change. If Prop 50 is approved, the new congressional maps will take effect immediately until 2030, when the next U.S. Census will occur. It explicitly returns reapportionment power back to the California Independent Redistricting Commission in 2030.

“This is the most transparent and democratic redistricting that’s ever been done in the United States of America,” Newsom told reporters at a Friday press conference.

ABC7 News insider Phil Matier said the outcome is not guaranteed, and that Democrats alone may not be able to push Prop 50 over the finish line.

“Even if every Democrat in the state voted for this, you’d still be short,” Matier said. “They’re going to need to bring in independents and some Republicans in order to get this over the line.”

Both sides are spending big to win over voters. So far, roughly $90 million has been raised for the campaigns. Billionaire Charles Munger Jr. has spent about $30 million backing the No on 50 effort, while George Soros recently contributed $10 million to Newsom’s “Yes on 50” campaign.