Californians vote on whether to draw new congressional districts next month. Their decision might come down to how they feel about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s confrontation with President Trump.
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Across this state, we’re seeing lots of political ads ahead of next week’s election. Californians are being asked to approve new congressional maps, and the result could determine who wins control of the House in next year’s midterm elections. Now, that vote could hinge on how Californians view Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom versus how they view President Trump. From member station KQED in San Francisco, Marisa Lagos reports.
MARISA LAGOS, BYLINE: Newsom and fellow Democrats are asking voters to throw away the maps created by an independent redistricting commission just a few years ago and approve districts aimed at giving Democrats five more seats in Congress next year. The measure is known as Prop 50.
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GAVIN NEWSOM: Why is Prop 50 called the Election Rigging Response Act? It’s in response to an unprecedented assault on midterm redistricting.
LAGOS: In an interview with KQED on Friday, the governor says the measure was placed before voters because President Trump is getting Texas and other Republican-led states to redraw their maps to give the GOP an advantage.
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NEWSOM: This was not – again, this was not the fight we wanted to have.
LAGOS: Trump started the unusual mid-decade redistricting race, but there are political implications for Newsom, who acknowledged this weekend on CBS that he’ll think about a presidential run in 2028. The outcome of next week’s redistricting vote could impact his appeal to Democrats. He says this is about an assault on democracy by Trump and Republicans, noting Trump’s Department of Justice announced Friday that it’s sending election monitors to California and New Jersey, where there’s a governor’s race.
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NEWSOM: They’re rigging the election. They’re creating the pretext that after we’re successful with Prop 50, that they can suggest somehow these were fraudulent. These elections were rigged against them. This is a preview of 2026. Wake up, everybody.
LAGOS: In a statement, the DOJ said the monitors were being sent to, quote, “ensure transparency, ballot security and compliance with federal law.” Newsom’s comments underscore how the Prop 50 campaign is making sure to tie that measure to national Republicans, President Trump and the MAGA movement. And that strategy is similar to four years ago when Newsom beat an attempt to boot him out of office in a recall election. But Jessica Millan Patterson, who’s chairing the campaign opposed to the proposition and who previously ran the state Republican Party, says that approach is tired.
JESSICA MILLAN PATTERSON: They don’t have a playbook. Like, they have one play, and they play that every single time.
LAGOS: Patterson says a large swath of the electorate remains undecided, and a range of voters, including disaffected Democrats and independents, are open to the argument that opponents are making.
PATTERSON: This is far less partisan, despite what the yes side is trying to do. We talk about these lines that have been drawn by Democrats in a back room. That is when people are like, this is fishy, this is shady, and I don’t want anything to do with it.
LAGOS: GOP strategist Rob Stutzman, who’s not involved in either campaign, says both tactics make sense. Democrats, who hold a 20-point registration advantage over Republicans in California, are simply trying to turn out their base he says.
ROB STUTZMAN: So this is a, we don’t want to do this, but they’re forcing us to do this. If they’re going to play dirty, then we got to play dirty.
LAGOS: But Stutzman says he wouldn’t count out the no side who are relying in part on a strategy that uses Newsom the same way Democrats use Trump.
STUTZMAN: Newsom isn’t just unpopular with Republicans. He actually triggers them.
LAGOS: Newsom says Democrats across the nation are excited about Prop 50, and the campaign has received small dollar donations from all 50 states.
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NEWSOM: Because people understand what’s at stake and they want to see people stand up and have their backs and fight.
LAGOS: So while voters here are deciding whether to approve new maps, it may feel more like a choice between Newsom and Trump. For NPR News, I’m Marisa Lagos in San Francisco.
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