The Abridged version:
- We asked for your questions about Proposition 50 – the statewide redistricting measure on the Nov. 4 ballot – and boy did you respond.
- Here are answers to some selected queries.
Q. Can we trust that this measure is a temporary fix, as Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised? After the midterm election, will we go back to the mandated districts that voters approved originally?
A. If Proposition 50 passes, the proposed congressional districts favoring Democrats would be used in the 2026 election, but also in 2028 and 2030. The state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission, created by voters, would draw new districts after the 2030 Census. While Newsom and other supporters bill this as an emergency change, the Legislature could also put another redistricting measure before voters.
Q. Who is paying (both pro and con) for this proposition?
A. As of Oct. 30, $146 million had been spent on the campaign, making Proposition 50 one of the most expensive ballot campaigns in state history, according to a CalMatters tally. The biggest funders on the pro side include Newsom, Democratic groups and their labor union allies. The opposition is being mostly bankrolled by a Republican congressional campaign committee and Charles Munger Jr., a billionaire who backed the measure that created the independent redistricting panel.
Q. Which districts in the Sacramento area would be affected?
A. Parts of all of them. CalMatters has a tool to look up your address and see if your district would be changed.
Q. Is Proposition 50 just legalizing gerrymandering until 2030? If so, why are so many Democratic politicians supporting it? How would Proposition 50 affect state and national politics? Are there any other ways to counter Republican state gerrymandering without California also gerrymandering?
A. Basically, yes. California’s delegation in the U.S. House now includes 43 Democrats and nine Republicans. The proposed districts could lead to Democrats flipping five GOP-held seats. Newsom and other Democrats argue Proposition 50 is the best way to counter Republican gerrymandering in Texas and other states. Overall in the U.S. House, Republicans now hold a narrow 219-213 majority, so these gerrymandered seats could very well determine which party controls Congress after the 2026 election – and whether Democrats have more power to oppose President Donald Trump and his policies.
Q. How much is this special election costing California taxpayers to administer?
A. The cost to counties and the state to administer the elections has been estimated at $282 million.
Q. If Texas and Missouri don’t follow through with redistricting, will California still proceed with Proposition 50?
A. Texas has already approved its new districts designed to add five Republican seats, though they’re now being challenged in court. Republicans in Missouri have also pushed through new congressional districts, and there are efforts by Republicans and Democrats alike in several other states. Nothing in the language of Proposition 50 requires redistricting to happen in other states for California’s measure to take effect, if approved.
Q. How much was Paul Mitchell, et. al., paid and by whom, including sources of funding umbrella pass-throughs? Who chose him?
A. Mitchell, a Sacramento political data consultant, has said he was approached by Democrats to help with the maps. In an email to Abridged, Mitchell declined to discuss how much the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee paid him or his firm, Redistricting Partners, which previously worked with the citizens redistricting commission.
Q. How do Republicans justify the redistricting in Texas but criticize California Democrats for doing the same thing?
A.The major difference highlighted by Republicans is that Texas does not have a nonpartisan commission that draws its congressional maps while California does. California Democrats want to overrule the commission here, at least temporarily, arguing that Trump is trying to rig the 2026 election.
For more information, check out the Voter Guide from CalMatters and the official voter information guide from the California secretary of state, available in multiple languages.
Election reminders
Every registered voter gets a ballot in the mail. The deadline for county election offices to start mailing them out was Oct. 6.
You can register to vote online until Oct. 20. After that, you must complete same-day registration.
And you can vote by mail, at drop-off boxes or in person through Nov. 4. (Ballots postmarked by Nov. 4 will be counted, but beware: Because of U.S. Postal Service changes, state officials warn that mail dropped off on Election Day more than 50 miles from several processing centers across the state, including West Sacramento, may not be postmarked in time.)
