Proposition 50 has very little to do with democracy; it is quite the opposite. The California representatives in the House are currently 43 Democrats and nine Republicans. This is 83 percent Dem and 17 percent GOP, yet California’s registered voters are only 45 percent Dem, 25 percent GOP, and 30 percent “other.” This is nowhere close to equal representation.
If Proposition 50 passes, Democrats will have 92 percent (48-4) of the representatives, and the GOP will have 8 percent. How does this save democracy? The GOP and “other” are already significantly underrepresented and will be even more so if this passes.
This is pure partisan politics. Not “democracy,” which, I might remind you, the USA is not. It is a constitutional republic in which we are represented by officials who mirror our states or districts. (As you can see above, our California representatives already do not mirror the people of the state.)
Democrats in California are doing exactly what they accuse the U.S. government of doing: trying to create a monarchy. This state has been run by people named Pelosi, Newsom, Brown, and Getty my entire life of 66 years. Proposition 50 is not for “the people,” it’s for the 45 percent of the state that belongs to a certain party.
For the record, I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I am “other.” I’m just extremely disappointed with California. We complain about our worthless president trolling and tweeting, but when our governor does it, we think it’s hilarious. We hate Texas for gerrymandering, yet we do the same after leading the nation in having an independent agency draw the boundaries for the last 15 years.
Pure. Partisan. Politics
We are better than this.
Gary Stites
Arroyo Grande
This article appears in Pets 2025.
If Republican policies were so popular they wouldn’t worry about this. Trump would not have called Abbott in Texas to redistrict the state five years before the next census with other red states following suit. Isn’t the U.S. Senate already constitutionally gerrymandered enough for the right with 54% of Americans represented by 47 Democratic senators while the 53 Republicans represent only 46% of Americans.
Once upon a time, this state was bright red and the district we live in had a Republican representative for 50 years. But in recent years, Republican candidates have been out of the mainstream and too far to the right, such as Andy Caldwell, who was drubbed by Salud Carbajal in 2024 when Republicans were gaining seats. In the face of Trump’s takeover, the only response California could make was to jettison bipartisan districting and fight fire with fire. My advice to Republicans is to run mainstream candidates who are not MAGA disciples if they ever want equal representation in this state. Unfortunately, such candidates have been drummed out of the party (Jordan Cunningham comes to mind).
Yes on 50!
Proposition 50 is all about saving democracy. We are currently experiencing a MAGA rightwing Fascist overthrow of American Democracy with masked, nameless, gun wielding storm troopers grabbing citizens off the streets. Bernie Sanders Democrats have been labeled as “terrorists” and threatened with jail and death. Accusing the King of being a Fascist is labeled a terrorist act. January 6 insurrectionists are given Presidential pardons and called heros. Fascist Republicans, fueled by racism, greed, arrogance, and ignorance initiated the gerrymandering of voting districts at the direction of the King. The goal is to control the vote and consolidate their Fascist rule. Freedom of speech and assembly are under attack.
Our country fought World War II against Fascists. My uncles were officers in the Army and Navy. My parents built fighter planes. In the mountains of Northern Italy my relatives fought in the anti Fascist underground against Mussolini and Hitler. 24 of my cousins died in that fight. I stand with them in heart, mind, and body. YES ON 50!