LOS ANGELES (OC).–Atty. Gen. Pami Bondi announced today that the Department of Justice will sue California for passing Prop 50, the controversial ballot initiative to allow restricting to favor Democrats in the 2026 election. Pushed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former President Barack Obama, among others, the ballot measure uses primarily race to restrict California’s congressional districts with the effect of favoring Democrat Latino voters to send more Democrats to Congress. Newsom said California bypassed the normal nonpartisan Commission on Redistricting to counteract the redistricting efforts in Texas to gain the state more Republican congressional seats. If you think about California’s legal challenge, they’re going to be hard-pressed to explain in Appeals Court or the Supreme Court what the legal theory behind Prop 50
Bondi claims Prop 50 based against the Constitution, based on racism to determine how to undermine Republican congressional seats leading to one-party rule in California. “California’s redistricting schcme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mock the democratic process,” said Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi in an email. “Gov. Newsom’s attempt ot entrench one party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand,” Bondi said. Newsom never explained why it was OK for California to bypass the state’s nonpartisan redistricting agency because of what legislators did in Texas. “These losers lost at ballot box and soon they will also lose in court,” said Newsom spokesman Brandon Richards. When it comes to the legal basis behind Prop 50, it’s possible it’s unconstitutional, like other California ballot propositions before.
Breaking with California’s normal restricting process, Prop 50 proved nothing other than it was a Democrat partisan measure that past easily because of the disproportionate number of registered Democrats in the state. Whether voters knew what they were voting for or not, Democrat voters could be easily persuaded to vote for Prop 50 whether it was Constitutional or not. How Newsom’s spokesman is so convinced about the legal arguments is anyone’s guess. If you had to bet on the legal arguments, Bondi has the law on her side. Bondi claims that Prop 50 used race [Latino] to gerrymander the districts to favor Democrat voters, leaving Republicans disenfranchised. Newsome’s logic in pushing the California Assembly in changing the nonpartisan Redistricting Commission was to favor Latino Democrats in taking away congressional seats from Republicans.
California has been known in the past to push ballot initiatives that turn out to be unconstitutional, like Prop 8 [banning same-sex marriage] and Prop 22 [making ride share drivers independent contractors]. “Race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Prop 50—the recent ballot initiative that junked California’s pre-existing electoral map in favor of a rush-job rejiggering of California’s congressional district lines,” said the DOJ lawsuit. Newsom pushed the Assembly to create Prop 50 to counter moves in Texas to add Republican seats in next year’s midterm election. But California already had in place a nonpartisan Redistricting Commission to determine appropriate congressional districts. Newsom and the Assembly’s plan was purely political to counteract what Texas was doing.
If California had nonopartisan Redistricting Commission, the Prop 50 would make more sense despite the partisan power grab. Newsom’s push for Prop 50 and the overwhelming amount of lobbying funds supporting the initiative, shows the state is pure blue, no longer competitive for Republicans. Bondi’s only real argument is that California used race to gerrymander districts to favor Democrats. Race-based preferences have been show strictly prohibited in the Constitution. Prop 50 could easily falling into the unconstitutional category of Prop 8 and Prop 22, both deemed after passing at the ballot box to be unconstitutional. Newsom transparently self-promotes as a 2028 presidential candidate, years befor any other candidate has been mentioned as a potential candidate. Newsom often uses President Donald Trump as a political foil to bolster his national standing.
Newsom’s political ambitions are obvious at this point, presenting himself nationally as a spoil to President Donald Trump. While Trump won’t run in 2028, there’s no doubt that his Vice President J.D. Vance will follow in Trump’s footsteps. Vance proved to be an articulate voice in the 2024 campaign, having no problems debating Kamala’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Walz tried his best but fell short debating Vance on the merits of pressing campaign issues. Newsom is a highly vulnerable candidate in 2028, finished two terms in California with more homeless and more debt. So, all of Newsom’s grandstanding hopes to compensate for his abysmal track record. Pushing Prop 50 was the wrong way to deal with redistricting in Texas. California’s nonpartisan Redistricting Commission was the right place to make any changes in districts.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
