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CHICO, Calif. – Voting started this week for a statewide particular election that will drastically alter California’s congressional map. Proposition 50, or Prop 50, may add as many as 5 Democratic-held seats in Congress in time for the 2026 midterms.
The measure asks California voters to quickly permit the legislature to determine the state’s district maps via 2030, after which the ability would return to the unbiased California Residents Redistricting Fee. If Prop 50 wins, it may go away as a couple of as 4 Republican-held seats throughout the state after 2026.
Latest polling exhibits Prop 50 will probably cross. Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats say Prop 50 is a crucial countermeasure to Republican-led redistricting efforts in Texas.
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The doorway to California State College, Chico. (Amalia Roy)
Nevertheless, UC Davis Professor Jim Adams warned a win for the Democrats within the quick time period may have detrimental long-term penalties.
“I feel that even when Prop 50 does assist the Democrats win a handful of extra seats in California, by successful the battle in California, the Democrats could make themselves lose the warfare nationally,” Adams instructed Fox.
Adams, a Democrat, stated he agrees with Prop 50 supporters that he needs to see one thing finished to curb Republican redistricting efforts in different elements of the nation.
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“There’s definitely a visceral satisfaction for the Democrats in feeling that Proposition 50 helps them to combat again. I don’t query the Democrats must combat again. The query is, are they preventing good with Proposition 50,” he added.
Prop 50 has the potential to spark political backlash, not solely inside California Republicans or independents in 2026, however on a nationwide scale through the presidential election in 2028.
If Prop 50 passes, California’s northern districts danger going from largely purple to utterly blue after the midterms.
The downtown space of Chico, California. (Amalia Roy)
Chico, California, sits in Republican-held District 1, which is represented by Rep. Doug LaMalfa. It is one of many districts focused in Prop 50. The proposed map would probably flip the district by pulling in voters from nearer to the extra Democrat-leaning Bay Space.
In 2024, President Donald Trump gained Butte County by about 3,000 votes over then-Vice President Kamala Harris. On the streets of downtown Chico, that political cut up confirmed when asking voters their emotions on Prop 50.
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Don Tarman and Martin Bettencourt each stated they assist the proposition, including that it is a response to Trump’s presidency.
“We agree with Gavin Newsom that Trump is making an attempt to sway the election for the Home. He picked up supposedly 5 votes in Texas. We’ll see how the vote comes out after we get to the election. However yeah, we’re not Trump followers. I feel Gavin Newsom is making an attempt to combat again a bit bit,” Tarman stated.
Bettencourt stated he does not sometimes assist redistricting, however that is “a distinct time.”
“I don’t like redistricting. I feel it’s imply to the voters. I feel they take away energy from them, as a result of they transfer it round and modify it,” he stated. “I feel we’re in sort of a distinct time, so we’re reacting off the highest of the ticket, which is the president, and we’ve to do what we’ve to do to compensate for that till we get somebody higher ready of energy.”
A poll field sitting exterior the Butte County Library, Chico department. (Amalia Roy)
Jim Henderson and Eleanor Engelbrecht are amongst those that do not agree with the proposition – each of them saying that redistricting in California will not be an excellent response to the efforts in Texas.
“When say they do it in Iowa, then do we’ve to have Oregon do the identical factor and the following factor you understand all the pieces is being gerrymandered? It’s unlucky the governor of Texas didn’t acknowledge that this wasn’t an acceptable approach of coping with the elections, however he made his determination, and I don’t assume we should always really feel compelled to say, properly, if you happen to’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it additionally,” Henderson stated.
Engelbrecht stated the nation goes via sufficient change and issues want to simply “settle.”
“Proper now, we’re going via lots of change already, and I don’t assume that is the time we should be, I don’t know, dusting and cleansing actually. I feel that we actually must let issues settle. I feel the place our nation is at proper now, there’s lots of divide already, and I feel actually this comes all the way down to defending honest elections,” she stated.
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If Prop 50 passes, there’ll probably be a authorized battle. California Republicans are already submitting lawsuits towards the measure.
