A majority of California voters support passing Prop 50 to amend the state’s constitution to allow new congressional maps before the 2026 midterms. The redistricting scheme, launched by Governor Gavin Newsom in response to Donald Trump’s call for Republican-led states to draw up new maps, would effectively disenfranchise Republicans in the Golden State in the name of democracy.
That is according to the Public Policy Institute of California, which conducted the Californians and Their Government survey October 7 to October 14, 2025.
Prop 50 More Popular Than Ever
Likely voters who said they would vote for Prop 50 outnumbered those who would not by 56% to 43%, according to the survey. About 70% of likely voters say the outcome of the vote is very important to them. Forty percent of Californians say “political extremism or threats to democracy” is the most important problem facing the US, followed by jobs and the economy (19%) and immigration (12%).This is despite the fact that nearly half of Californians say the state is in a recession, and 16% of them say it is a “serious recession.” Still, 54% of adults say they approve of California Governor Gavin Newsom and 49% approve of the California legislature. Most Californians, 73%, say they disapprove of President Donald Trump’s job performance.
A CBS News poll conducted on Thursday found 62% of likely voters support Prop 50, with 38% opposing the measure. Among the supporters, 75% cited opposing Trump as a reason for their vote, and 70% said one reason for their vote is to oppose national Republicans. Those who reject Prop 50 say it’s a state issue.
A third poll, one by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California Berkeley, found 60% of likely voters say they will vote for Prop 50, and 38% say they will vote against it. The vote is sharply partisan, with 93% of Democrats in support and 91% of Republicans opposing.
Is Donald Trump on the Ballot?
Is there any wonder Californians feel that way? They have been inundated with passionate propaganda ads featuring politicians trying to convince them to vote to take back the authority they gave to the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to adjust the boundary lines of congressional districts – in a non-partisan way – following the national census. That power Newsom wants to give to the state legislature to redraw those lines for every congressional election until 2031.
“You have the power to stand up to Donald Trump,” Newsom says in the ads, called “Yes on Prop 50: You Have The Power.” Former President Barack Obama, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) are among the far left line-up telling Californians that Prop 50 will protect democracy. The measure proposing to amend the California Constitution is dubbed, both ironically and deceptively, the Election Rigging Response Act. If passed, it will likely reduce Republican representation in Congress by five seats.
“You have the power to stop election rigging,” Sen. Murphy said. “Democracy is on the ballot November 4…with Prop 50, you stop Republicans in their tracks…Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field,” Obama says.
This is a special state election called by Newsom and the legislature, which is costing taxpayers $200 million. But the ads reek of urgency and national consequence, as if President Donald Trump were on the ballot on November 4.
Carl DeMaio, a Republican in the state assembly and chairman of Reform California, says it is Democratic politicians, not the people, who benefit from the measure passing.
“It’s like the devil offering Bible study. These people – complete frauds,” DeMaio said on his Reform California podcast last week. “They say that they’re saving democracy. They’re the ones destroying it…But what they are doing is showing that they, the politicians, want this.”
President Donald Trump is mentioned six times in the text of Prop 50. The symphony of politicians in the “Yes on Prop 50” ads are fanning the flames of California Democrats’ hatred for Trump. By contrast, the “No on Prop 50: We The People” ads feature a teacher answering a question from a student about Texas’ redistricting, saying: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Cheating War
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger spoke on CNN on October 29 about what he called the “War on Cheating” between Republicans and Democrats, both of whom he says is trying to cheat with gerrymandering. The former governor also called out the temporary provision of Prop 50.
“Anything that is temporary with government is permanent,” Schwarzenegger said. “So, they, in the year 2032, when the independent redistricting Commission is supposed to come back, they’re going to say, ‘Wait a minute, there’s still gerrymandering going on in Texas. There’s still gerrymandering going on in Ohio. There’s still gerrymandering going on in Florida. We have to continue with the gerrymandering.’ This is what’s going to happen. They will find an excuse. So therefore, I don’t think it is temporary. So that’s total fantasy.”
When CNN’s Jake Tapper argued that President Trump and Republicans started this redistricting war with Texas, Schwarzenegger shot back with receipts.
“There has been gerrymandering going on for 200 years,” Schwarzenegger said. “There is such, such extreme gerrymandering going on in a state like Massachusetts. It has like 40% of the people voting for Trump…The Republican Party has zero representatives sent to the House. Think about that. In New Mexico, 45% of the people voted for Trump and voted Republican, and zero is sent to the House, zero representative from the Republican Party. So, there is gerrymandering, crazy gerrymandering going on all over the country. And we wanted to try to stop it in California. And we did stop it in California.”
Schwarzenegger said that, instead of finger-pointing, Democrats should focus on outperforming Trump. Competition, he said, creates performance. With Prop 50, he argued, lawmakers will draw the district lines in a way that guarantees they are elected whether they perform well or not, thereby cheating the people.
