To the editor: I strongly disagree with Mark Z. Barabak’s column lambasting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to counter Texas’ threatened redistricting (“Gavin Newsom is threatening to end-run California voters. It displays a horrible pattern,” July 23). When Proposition 20 handed in 2010, California voters nonetheless believed that our democracy was protected by a system of checks and balances. However issues have radically modified since then.
Venture 2025, a plan related to a number of in President Trump’s administration and with which his insurance policies have to date intently aligned, means to undermine the very foundations our system is constructed on. California is beneath menace, with the federal authorities taking away funding and trampling our state’s authorized authorities. If Republicans in Texas and elsewhere primarily assist rig the 2026 elections via mid-decade redistricting, these of us who nonetheless consider in democracy need to struggle again by profitable state-level elections and ensuring Texas Republicans can’t disproportionately seize energy within the nationwide election.
It might be naive to prioritize defending a 15-year-old poll measure when equity in our elections is at stake. I respect that Newsom acknowledges this and I help his proposal.
Judith Lipsett, Claremont
