California voters went to the polls Tuesday to determine on a radical redistricting plan with nationwide implications, however the marketing campaign is shaping as much as be a referendum on President Trump.
Proposition 50, a poll measure about redrawing the state’s congressional districts, was crafted by Democrats in response to Trump urging Texas and different GOP-majority states to switch their congressional maps to favor Republicans, a transfer that was designed to take care of Republican management of the U.S. Home of Representatives.
Opponents have stated Proposition 50 is an influence seize by Democrats that might blatantly disenfranchise Republican voters.
However supporters, fueled by an enormous conflict chest in deep blue California, managed to make the vote about Trump and what they are saying are his efforts to erode democracy. The president has by no means been in style in California, however unprecedented months of immigration raids, tariffs and environmental rollbacks have solely heightened the battle.
“Trump is such a polarizing determine,” stated Rick Hasen, a professor of legislation and political science at UCLA. “He instructions nice loyalty from one group of individuals and nice animosity from others. … It’s not shocking that this measure has been portrayed as sticking it to Donald Trump or [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom.”
Proposition 50 underscores how hyperpartisan California politics has turn into. A UC Berkeley ballot final week carried out along side The Occasions discovered greater than 9 out of 10 Democrats supported Proposition 50 and the same proportion of Republicans opposed it.
California voters had been bombarded with tv advertisements, mailers and social media posts for weeks concerning the high-stakes particular election, a lot in order that solely 2% of possible voters had been undecided, in keeping with the ballot.
As if on cue, Trump weighed in on Proposition 50 on Tuesday morning simply as voting was getting underway.
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that your entire course of, specifically the Voting itself, is RIGGED,” Trump stated on Reality Social simply minutes after polling stations opened Tuesday throughout California.
The president supplied no proof for his allegations.
Newsom dismissed the president’s claims on X as “the ramblings of an previous man that is aware of he’s about to LOSE.”
At a White Home briefing Tuesday afternoon, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed, with out offering examples, that California was receiving ballots within the title of undocumented immigrants who couldn’t legally vote.
California’s high elections official, Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, known as Trump’s allegation “one other baseless declare.”
“The underside line is California elections have been validated by the courts,” Weber stated in a press release. “California voters won’t be deceived by somebody who persistently makes determined, unsubstantiated makes an attempt to dissuade Individuals from taking part in our democracy.”
Greater than 6.3 million Californians — 28% of the state’s 23 million registered voters — had forged ballots as of Monday, in keeping with a voting tracker run by Democratic redistricting knowledgeable Paul Mitchell. Ballots submitted by Democrats had been outpacing votes by Republicans on Monday, although GOP voters had been believed to be extra more likely to vote in particular person on election day.
Disabled Military veteran Micah Corpe, 50, had some selection phrases for Newsom outdoors a Twentynine Palms church that served as a polling place, calling the politician a “greasy used automobile salesman.”
Corpe, a Republican, described Proposition 50 as an effort by the governor to “do no matter he desires as a result of he doesn’t like Trump.” On the similar time, he stated Texas’ resolution to redraw its congressional districts was a necessity due to the inflow of individuals transferring there from California and different blue states.
“He fights [Trump] on the whole lot,” Corpe stated of Newsom. “Simply give in a little bit to get a little bit. That’s all he’s bought to do.”
Matt Lesenyie, an assistant professor of political science at Cal State Lengthy Seashore, stated the seeds of Proposition 50 had been sowed when it turned clear that Republicans in Congress weren’t going to problem Trump in an investigatory method or present critical oversight.
“One of many advantages of our system is that there are checks designed in there and we haven’t exercised these checks in a great very long time, so I feel this can be a Hail Mary for probably doing that,” he stated.
Bob Rowell, 72, stated that in a super world Proposition 50 wouldn’t be essential. However the Trump administration’s push to redraw strains in purple states has created a “distinct hazard of making a unending Republican domination in Congress,” he stated. So Rowell, a Inexperienced Occasion member, voted sure.
“I hope there’s some solution to carry us again into stability,” he stated.
Robert Hamilton, 35, an architectural drafter who lives in Twentynine Palms, sees Proposition 50 as a essential step to push again on Trump’s insurance policies, which he stated are impinging on folks’s rights. He’s pleased with the function California is taking part in on this political second.
“I feel as a state we’re doing a superb job of attempting to push again in opposition to a few of the extra egregious oversteps of our liberties,” Hamilton stated outdoors a church the place he’d simply forged his poll in favor of the measure. “I do hope that if this measure is profitable that different states will comply with go well with — not essentially taking the identical steps to redistrict however discovering methods to at the least maintain the road whereas hopefully we get issues sorted out.”
Occasions employees writers Seema Mehta and Katie King contributed to this report.
