California will approve Prop 50, the redistricting push to create more Democrat-friendly US House districts, CNN projects
By Arit John, CNN
(CNN) — California voters will approve Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to redraw the state’s congressional maps, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, boosting the national Democratic Party’s efforts to win control of the US House next year.
The measure will allow Democrats to replace congressional lines drawn by the state’s independent commission with new ones that make five US House seats more favorable for the governor’s party.
President Donald Trump launched a national redistricting battle ahead of next year’s midterms, seeking to prevent Democrats from winning control of the House for the last two years of his administration.
Democrats advanced their mid-decade redistricting push after Texas Republicans moved to redraw their own maps to shift five US House seats to the right at Trump’s behest. Newsom argued that the ballot measure, Proposition 50, was necessary for Democrats to “fight fire with fire.”
Proposition 50’s passage is a personal success for Newsom, a term-limited governor who has positioned himself as one of the president’s most aggressive adversaries ahead of a possible 2028 presidential run.
Newsom invested significant political capital betting that voters would be willing to undermine the state’s independent redistricting commission to push back against the Trump administration.
The governor made himself the face of the campaign, appearing in ads and teasing at his political future to boost donations. His ballot measure committee raised more than $100 million, far surpassing the amount raised and spent by the opposition.
That bet has paid off.
The Republican-led effort against the measure was fractured. Wealthy GOP donor Charles Munger Jr., who bankrolled the constitutional amendments that created the independent redistricting commission, poured more than $30 million of his own money into the effort to block Proposition 50. While Munger targeted independent voters and good government-minded Democrats, the California Republican Party and a group led by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy worked to boost GOP turnout. But McCarthy’s efforts to raise money fell well short of what he privately told Republicans to expect.
Former GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also came out against Proposition 50, urging Californians to “terminate gerrymandering.” Newsom met privately with the former governor earlier this year and described him as a friend and colleague.
“We share many of the same values, we certainly share many of the same concerns about the current occupant in the White House,” Newsom told reporters in August.
Democrats made Trump a central part of the campaign in a bid to politicize the race and take advantage of their party’s roughly 20-point voter registration advantage over Republicans. Republicans, meanwhile, focused on Newsom, arguing that the ballot initiative was an effort to boost his future political ambitions.
Opponents of Proposition 50 argued that the measure was a Democratic power grab, and that voters already voted more than a decade ago to strip lawmakers of the right to draw congressional districts.
Under the new maps, which will be in place through the 2030 election, five Republican incumbents have been drawn into bluer districts. Several Democratic candidates have already announced challenges in anticipation of the more favorable lines.
The-CNN-Wire
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