Redistricting should be about fairness, transparency, and protecting the voices of every Californian. Unfortunately, Governor Newsom’s last minute gerrymandering scheme threatens to erode public trust in an attempt to secure additional political power.
When voters created California’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission more than 10 years ago, they gave a mandate that politicians should not control redistricting. They made clear their will was to create maps that reflect communities and provide representation for all Californians, not the political ambitions of a Supermajority. California Democrats, time and again, have commended our Independent Redistricting Committee as a model for the nation.
This week, the Legislative Democrats rammed through three measures to put their partisan scheme on the ballot.
- ACA 8 – Asks voters to approve the governor’s plan to set aside the existing congressional map established in 2021 by the nonpartisan California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) in favor of a highly partisan gerrymandered congressional district map drawn to eliminate five Republican congressional seats while making numerous other Democrat seats far less competitive.
- SB 280 – Calls a special statewide election for November 4, 2025, to submit ACA 8 to voters as Proposition 50, costing a quarter-billion in taxpayer dollars.
- AB 604 – Replaces for the next three elections cycles (2026, 2028, 2030), as long as the voters approve ACA 8, the existing congressional district maps established in 2021 by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) with the politician-drawn gerrymandered maps.
One of the many problems with this effort is the cost. This special election will cost around a quarter of a billion dollars. California is in a budget deficit. The recently passed budget made cuts to vital services, but somehow there are funds for the Democrats to play partisan games. One of these programs was the Orange County Warm Line. The warm line, a project run by the National Alliance for Mental Illness Orange County, is a lifeline for residents facing mental health concerns, substance abuse, loneliness, and more. Democrats in Sacramento are telling Orange County that they care more about their political games than they do about your mental health.
Additionally, this process has created a veil of secrecy where public input has little value. Not only that, Republican members of the Legislature have been kept in the dark. For instance, the deadline for holding policy committee hearings came and went on July 18th. Despite that, Democrats circumvented the rules, and called hearings for Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee for both the Senate and the Assembly for Tuesday morning, far less than the 24 hours required. Despite being the Vice Chair of the Senate Elections Committee, the first I heard of the Committee meeting was from the media, who received a press release. It is disappointing that Democratic leadership cares more about the media’s presence than they apparently were about all the members.
One point the Democrats keep making is that they didn’t start this. They have taken to laying blame at the feet of other states to cover for their political gerrymandering games. I represent California and the people of my district in Orange County, not politicians in other states. The argument that because other states may disenfranchise their voters, we should disenfranchise millions of our own voters is disappointing at best and political games at worst. This partisan gerrymandering will silence the voice of millions of Californians, all for political gain. Silencing voters is wrong no matter who does it and California Democrats have no moral high ground in doing so, regardless of what excuses they claim.
Steven Choi represents California’s 37th State Senate District. He is vice chair of the Senate’s Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.
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