California voters are deciding the fate of Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s Proposition 50, which poses one simple question: to gerrymander or not to gerrymander?<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s ballot measure<\/a> asks voters to approve Newsom\u2019s plan to temporarily sideline California\u2019s independent redistricting commission and instead adopt gerrymandered districts drawn to give Democrats an edge in the national race to control the U.S. House of Representatives. Polls close at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n Newsom and his allies say Prop. 50 offsets gerrymandering efforts in Republican-controlled states such as Texas, Missouri and North Carolina that are designed to help the GOP retain control of Congress and pass more of President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda in his last two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Opponents of Prop. 50 argue that the measure amounts to a power grab by Newsom and Sacramento\u2019s political elite, and that politicians shouldn\u2019t be able to draw their own district lines.<\/p>\n More than 5.9 million ballots \u2014 about 26% of those who received mail-in ballots \u2014 have already been returned, according to Political Data Inc., which tracks ballots in each county. Final polling shows strong support for Prop. 50<\/a>, with 56% of likely voters telling the Public Policy Institute of California they\u2019re in favor, and 60% of likely voters supporting in a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under the new maps, some disparate parts of the state get lumped together, such as a wacky shaped district in the North State<\/a> that combines rural and conservative Modoc County with the ultra-liberal Bay Area in Marin County. The city of Huntington Beach, a conservative stronghold in Orange County that banned the LGBTQ pride flag on city property, would be represented by a progressive<\/a>, gay Peruvian immigrant, the top Democrat on the U.S. House\u2019s primary investigative committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n And a game of musical chairs in San Diego and Riverside counties<\/a> could pit longtime Republican members of Congress against one another as the number of winnable GOP seats shrinks. Several salivating Democrats have already declared they will run in the newly formed<\/a>, Democratic-friendly 48th Congressional District, which Republican Rep. Darrell Issa currently represents.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the weeks leading up to Election Day, voters in the typically low-turnout Central Valley<\/a> proved that even though many Californians hadn\u2019t heard of Prop. 50 by name, the redistricting issue was familiar enough that they could quickly form an opinion after learning about the measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just the right amount of news<\/p>\n Just the right amount of news<\/p>\n Get California\u2019s most essential headlines without feeling overwhelmed.<\/p>\n Get California\u2019s most essential headlines without feeling overwhelmed.<\/p>\n The Yes side blanketed the airwaves with $55.4 million in ads featuring high-profile Democrats and had a significant fundraising advantage<\/a> \u2014 more than double their opponents. The No campaign spent just $8.9 million in broadcast and video advertising, according to the ad tracking AdImpact<\/a>.<\/p>\n Voters in five California counties \u2014 Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside \u2014 could encounter federal election monitors<\/a> from the Department of Justice at their polling places. Newsom also fanned fears within the Latino community that immigration agents could appear at polling sites<\/a>. An ICE spokesperson told CalMatters that the agency was not planning \u201ctargeted enforcement actions\u201d at polling sites.<\/p>\n .wp-block-group__inner-container > :not(h2){margin: 16px 40px !important;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group .wp-block-group__inner-container{display: flex;gap: 12px;align-items: center;}.cm-cta.long-ask figure{max-width: 40px;flex-shrink: 0;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group p{font-size: 18px;font-weight: 700;line-height: 120%;letter-spacing: -0.36px;width: 100%;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group .wp-block-buttons{flex-shrink: 0;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-button__link{padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;}@container long-ask (min-width: 601px){.cm-cta.long-ask *{font-size: 16px;}}@container long-ask (max-width: 600px){.cm-cta.long-ask h2,.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group p{text-align: center;}.cm-cta.long-ask h2{background: linear-gradient(90deg,#FFE094 0%,#FFB500 100%);padding: 12px 20px;font-size: 20px;letter-spacing: -0.4px;}.cm-cta.long-ask .wp-block-group .wp-block-group__inner-container{flex-direction: column;}.cm-cta.long-ask > .wp-block-group__inner-container > :not(h2){margin: 16px 20px !important;}}]]><\/p>\n Nonpartisan, independent California news for all<\/p>\n We\u2019re CalMatters, your nonprofit and nonpartisan news guide.<\/p>\n Our journalists are here to empower you and our mission continues to be essential.<\/p>\n We are independent and nonpartisan. Our trustworthy journalism is free from partisan politics, free from corporate influence and actually free for all Californians.<\/p>\n We are focused on California issues. From the environment to homelessness, economy and more, we publish the unfettered truth to keep you informed.<\/p>\n We hold people in power accountable. We probe and reveal the actions and inactions of powerful people and institutions, and the consequences that follow.<\/p>\n But we can\u2019t keep doing this without support from readers like you.<\/p>\n Please give what you can today. Every gift helps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In summary Tuesday is the final day for California voters to weigh in on whether to approve Newsom\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1708,112,114,113,457,1361,8352],"class_list":["post-38134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-california-elections","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-proposition-50","tag-secretary-of-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762293976_979_Asset-4.png\")
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