A few weeks ago, the Democrat super-majority in Sacramento voted to bypass the State’s non-partisan Citizen’s Redistricting Commission and claim the power to draw electoral districts as their own. This decision blatantly disregards the will of the voters and those guarantees set forth in our State’s Constitution. Prop 50 will be on the ballot November 4th, 2025. We must defeat it.
In 2008, we, the voters of California, approved Proposition 11. Prop 11 created the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission and tasked five Republicans, five Democrats, and four independents from across the State to draw State Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization electoral districts. In 2010, voters expanded the Commission’s role to include the drawing of Congressional electoral districts. In doing so, we took power away from politicians in Sacramento and placed it where it belongs, with us. We decided to let voters choose their representatives instead of politicians choosing their voters. We chose transparency, independence, and fairness.
To be clear, this system is far from perfect. In the last redistricting cycle, the Commission created a set of maps that protected Democrat incumbents and split Central Valley Counties every way imaginable. As a result, our community lost an effective representative in Congressman Nunes.
Governor Newsom and his allies in the Legislature claim that this effort to circumvent the Commission is a one-time exception to counter similar efforts in Republican States. They further claim that they will surrender this power back to the people after this “crisis” ends.
In 2024, we overwhelmingly passed Prop. 36, expecting the State to begin cracking down on crime in our communities. But, in his revised budget for the State, Governor Newsom refused to fund enforcement efforts. The Governor is refusing to acknowledge the results of the 2008 election, the 2010 election, and now, the 2024 election. He has shown no reason to trust him to return the power to the people.
On November 4, 2025, Prop. 50 will appear on the ballot and we will be asked to defend our State’s non-partisan Citizen’s Redistricting Commission or support Governor Newsom’s political ambitions. We must vote NO on Prop. 50.
Over the next two months, my focus will be on defeating Proposition 50 to prevent the gamesmanship of our political elections and protect the will of the voters from political power-grabs.
By Nathan Magsig
Fresno County Supervisor – Candidate for State Senate District 12