Unofficial Proposition 50 special election results point to California voters approving new congressional districts for the state.
As of Nov. 5, 63.8 percent of voters around California cast their ballots in favor of Proposition 50, while 36.2 percent of them voted against it.
Spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the measure would authorize temporary use of new state congressional district maps through 2030, directing the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to resume enacting district maps in 2031.
For Democrats, Proposition 50 attempts to level the playing field after state leaders in Texas redrew congressional district lines to gain five Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives before the 2026 midterm elections.
Initial San Luis Obispo County results showed that 56.2 percent of voters checked off “yes” on the proposition. A little more than 43 percent of SLO County voters rejected the measure, according to the early vote count.
The preliminary result comes from counting roughly 81,250 votes—44.6 percent of the 182,200 registered voters in the county.
County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano told New Times ahead of Election Day that the results posted soon after polls closed at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4 came from all the vote-by-mail ballots that the Elections Office received and counted over the previous 29 days.
“We will then release additional results as the poll ballots come in, typically every two hours until all precincts are counted,” Cano said via email. “We will resume counting the VBM’s on Friday, Nov. 7.”
Elections Office spokesperson Erin Clausen said they finished counting the first set of ballots at 11:40 p.m. on Nov. 4. The office planned to scan rosters and tally provisional ballots and mail ballots dropped at the polls. Clausen added that the office would post the first unprocessed ballots report, which will tell the public what’s left to count, on Nov. 6.
SLO County Democratic Party Chair Tom Fulks said that the results of Proposition 50 signal that Democrats could recapture the House in 2026.
“We ran the board across the country last night,” he said. “This is a direct repudiation of fascism, the militarization of our law enforcement, the violence that Trump has inflicted on our country and our immigrants,” Fulks said. “The margin of victory for Prop. 50 should send a message to the world that we are making America great again.”
The Proposition 50 election wasn’t the only race that Democrats were projected to sweep. The blue party is poised to notch victories in Virginia and New Jersey where Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherill, respectively, lead their races for state governor. New York City also elected its new mayor in Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani.
On Election Day, Newsom called on other blue states like Virginia, Maryland, New York, Illinois, and Colorado to follow California’s lead. Democrats in some of these states are already talking about redrawing their own congressional district lines while discussions about redistricting also gain steam in conservative states like Missouri, Kansas, and Indiana.
According to Fulks, the local Democratic Party chapter’s focus is more on home.
“We’re going to push back at the school board level, at the City Council level, and we’re going to defend our majority on the Board of Supervisors,” he said.
Republican Party of SLO County Chair Randall Jordan told New Times that defeating Proposition 50 was an “uphill battle from the start.”
Politicians now pick their constituents, according to Jordan, instead of voters getting to select their representatives.
“Twenty-six counties voted no but unfortunately these were the rural self-sufficient counties and not the urban centers who rely heavily on government handouts and control,” he wrote in a statement. “The rational voice would tell you undermining the two-party system here in California is bad for all citizens and voters.”
The California Republican Party is already pushing back on the state’s new House maps.
On Nov. 5, the Dhillon Law group—started by U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon—announced a federal lawsuit on behalf of the state party, 18 California voters, and lead plaintiff state Assemblymember David Tangipa (R-Fresno).
“As the first Polynesian elected ever to the state Legislature, I understand the diversity and the beauty that this state has,” Tangipa said at the press conference. “What we have seen with Prop. 50, these maps, they’re completely diminishing the voices of other groups to benefit other groups.” ∆
This article appears in Nov 6-16, 2025.