A Vote for Prop 50 is a Vote Against Gerrymandering
By Ben Gildea
Incentives matter. For far too long, politicians like those in Texas have gerrymandered without fear of consequences. With Proposition 50, California voters have finally been given the opportunity to punish them for it. And we should take it.
With Texas Republicans redrawing their congressional maps mid-decade and other Republican states to follow, the fight against gerrymandering has never been more dire. If we allow this behavior to go unpunished, then just like so many other political norms, the standard of limiting redistricting to after the census will begin to erode. The implications will resound far beyond the balance of power in Congress. Although politicians in state legislatures are trying to redraw congressional districts today, if we allow them to get away with it without consequences, there is every reason to suspect that they will be redrawing their own district lines tomorrow. It is rare enough to dislodge entrenched state legislators when they redistrict every ten years, and it will become essentially impossible if they are allowed to draw themselves custom districts for every election cycle.
The only way to stop this is for voters to stand up and send a clear message to politicians that we will not tolerate such behavior. Proposition 50 is that message. Republicans in Texas are gerrymandering right now with a clear goal — to bias an already right-tilted national House map towards Republicans. If California voters choose to take the power of redistricting into our own hands by passing Prop 50, we will help un-gerrymander the House of Representatives by reducing, although not eliminating, the Republican bias. We must demonstrate to politicians like those in Texas that their selfish attempts to erode democracy have consequences.
We know that they are scared of Prop 50 because they’re lying about it. Already, one of their flyers has created controversy for falsely implying that the League of Women Voters agreed with their position. These same politicians falsely claim that Prop 50 will destroy the independent redistricting commission, when the truth is that Prop 50 is a temporary measure and that Prop 50 actually reaffirms the role of California’s independent redistricting commission in drawing maps in the future. However, the biggest lie of all is that the California Republican politicians campaigning for No in any way oppose gerrymandering.
In 2021, the For the People Act, a bill banning partisan gerrymandering, came before the House of Representatives. Every last Democratic representative from California voted Yes. Every last House Republican from California voted to continue gerrymandering. The bill died in the Senate under Republican filibuster. Now those same House Republicans would have us believe that gerrymandering is not a national issue and should be viewed purely on a state-by-state basis. That Californians should vote as if in a vacuum. That we should pretend as if those Republicans aren’t the very same people who continue to allow gerrymandering all across America in the first place.
Fundamentally, the party that wins the most votes nationwide should control the House of Representatives. It’s not rocket science; it’s democracy. Proposition 50 brings us closer to that goal. With so many Republican states beyond Texas now also looking to do mid-decade gerrymandering, it is entirely possible that – if Proposition 50 fails – Democrats could win the popular vote by a sizable margin and still lose the House of Representatives. That’s what gerrymandering looks like. With the 2026 Senate map being grim for Democrats, that would probably translate into 2 additional years of Trump trifecta that Americans neither wanted nor voted for. Proposition 50 is America’s last, best hope to fight back against gerrymandering, ensure fair elections, and stop Donald Trump’s attempts to destroy our country. It’s time for us to rise up, make our voices heard, and vote YES on Prop 50.
Featured Image: Courage California