It’s the final sprint for Proposition 50, the redistricting ballot measure before California voters.
And while the campaign in support of Prop. 50 is polling ahead — and far outraising — the opposition, both sides say they are focused on getting more people to vote in these last few days of the campaign. That’s done through rallies, knocking on doors and ads.
“We have always said we are not taking anything for granted,” said Hannah Milgrom, a spokesperson for the Yes on 50 campaign led by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Polls don’t vote; people do,” Milgrom added. “We are ensuring we’re getting our message out to every Californian. … We’re going to do everything we can until that last vote is cast.”
Those polls, though, show the pro-Prop. 50 side in good position heading into the weekend before Election Day.
A recent Emerson College poll found 57% of likely California voters surveyed said they support Prop. 50, while 37% opposed it. Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, noted some demographic groups that were hesitant to support Prop. 50 a month prior had increased their support for it when asked for the survey conducted Oct. 20-21.
Meanwhile, another recent survey of likely voters by CBS News/YouGov found 62% supported the measure and 38% opposed it. (This survey was conducted from Oct. 16-21.)
“We knew going into this that this was going to be an uphill battle,” said Jessica Millan Patterson, the former head of the California Republican Party who is leading the No on 50 camp.
Still, Patterson isn’t conceding.
“Right now, it’s all about turnout,” she said about her side’s focus in these final days of the campaign. The goal, she said, is to reach “those last bits of undecided” voters who aren’t on board with the redistricting proposal.
Newsom, in August, called for new congressional boundary lines to be drawn in a way that would benefit Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections. Those maps, expected to benefit Democrats in five districts, would be used until 2030, and then California would revert to using an independent group of commissioners to draw boundary lines again.
The Democratic-led legislature agreed with Newsom, calling for the special election and putting the maps before voters.
The idea is to offset similar gerrymandering efforts in states led by Republican governors or legislatures at the behest of President Donald Trump; Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have redistricted since Newsom put in motion California’s redistricting plan.
But Patterson said she still believes there are voters, on either side of the political aisle, who believe this mid-cycle redistricting is wrong.
The opposition’s final message to Californians is more about “good governance,” rather than partisan politics, she said.
Meanwhile, supporters of Prop. 50 have embraced the notion that the ballot measure, at its core, is a referendum on Trump and that policies under his administration have national implications.
The Yes on 50 camp doubled down on that message with a new television and digital ad this week.
The ad features Newsom along with high-profile Democrats from throughout the country, including former President Barack Obama; Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Lateefah Simon of California; and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
The 30-second spot splices together remarks from the current or former elected officials saying, “California, with Prop. 50, you have the power … to stand up to Donald Trump … to protect reproductive freedom … to give America a fair midterm … to stand up for everyone being erased by this president.”
It ends with some of the politicians saying, “For all of us, in all 50 states, yes on 50.”
However, it’s not just the Prop. 50 players who are getting active in the lead-up to Election Day.
Nonprofit and nonpartisan groups, too, are trying to get California voters engaged — and those who may not be registered, ready to vote.
A week before Election Day, about 30 people crammed into a second-floor office in Costa Mesa to eat pambazos and make an ofrenda, or an altar to deceased loved ones, for Día de los Muertos.
-
People eat and make Día de los Muertos art projects before Oswaldo Farias, deputy director of Resilience Orange County, talked to them about voting during a weekly meeting of Changing Hearts and Minds of Youth (CHAMOY) in Costa Mesa, CA, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
1 of 3
People eat and make Día de los Muertos art projects before Oswaldo Farias, deputy director of Resilience Orange County, talked to them about voting during a weekly meeting of Changing Hearts and Minds of Youth (CHAMOY) in Costa Mesa, CA, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Expand
They also talked about voting — and why the right to vote is celebratory, said Oswaldo Farias with Rescilience Orange County, an organization that helps communities of color with civic engagement and advocacy and that hosted the event.
Dubbed “Painting, Pambazos and Polls,” the event engaged several first-time voters and soon-to-be voters through art.
“We wanted to bring an art aspect to (the election), and tie it into the cultural roots we’ve got,” said Farias.
And while they were building altars and painting, “we were talking about how voting is being able to honor our ancestors, understanding what the history of voting has been like in our country.”
“For us,” said Farias, “understanding that we can exercise that right is one way to honor those who came before us.”
