Proposition 50 is a short-term victory with a big downside

One of California’s great conceits is that it is on the cutting edge of fashion, culture, technology, politics, and other aspects of the ways we live and thrive.

That is not the case with Proposition 50.

The redistricting measure resoundingly passed Tuesday breaks no new ground, charts a new course or shines a light on a better path.

This is just the latest iteration of what defines today’s politics of bitterness and division, to use the California governor’s favorite word.

In fact, the redistricting measure and the partisan passions it stirs offer a perfect reflection of where we are as a fractured country: Democrats overwhelmingly supported it. Republicans were overwhelmingly opposed.

There is nothing new or novel about this.

And if Prop. 50 goes ahead as intended, it could make matters worse, increasing polarization in the country and increasing hostility in Washington that rots our government and policy from the inside out.

You’re welcome

The argument in favor of Proposition 50—and it is a strong one—is that California is merely responding to the machinations and underhanded actions of a rogue chief executive who desperately needs to be checked and balanced.

The only apparent constraint on President Trump’s authoritarian impulse is whether he thinks he can get away with something, with Republicans in Congress and a lazy Supreme Court looking the other way.

With the GOP’s control of the House hanging by a thread, Trump set out to boost his party’s chances in the midterm elections by intimidating Texas Republicans and redrawing the state’s congressional lines well ahead of time. Trump’s hope next year is to win all five of the state’s House of Representatives seats.

Gov. Gavin Newson responded with Proposition 50, which canceled the work of a voter-created, nonpartisan redistricting commission and altered the political map to help Democrats flip five seats in California.

And with that comes the fight for redistricting, as states across the country seek to reshuffle congressional boundaries to benefit one party or the other.

As a result, more politicians now have the luxury of choosing their voters and vice versa, and if that doesn’t bother you, maybe you’re not such a fan of representative democracy or the will of the people.

With his eyes set on the White House, was it necessary for Newsom to escalate the red-blue war? Was California supposed to step in and be part of the political race to the bottom? We won’t know until November 2026.

date and Trump’s approval ratings are falling It suggests — especially on the economy — that Democrats are well positioned to win at least the handful of seats needed to take control of the House of Representatives, even without resorting to the machinations of Proposition 50.

Of course, there is no guarantee.

Gerrymandering aside, a pending Supreme Court decision that could strike down the Voting Rights Act could give Republicans more than a dozen seats and greatly increase the odds that the GOP will retain power.

What is certain is that Proposition 50 will disenfranchise millions of California Republicans and Republican-leaning voters who already feel ignored and irrelevant to the running of their state.

What a shame for them, you might say. But this sense of neglect erodes our faith in our political system and can foster a kind of go-to-hell cynicism that makes electing and cheering for a “disruptor” like Trump seem like a reasonable and appealing response.

(And yes, disenfranchisement is just as bad when it targets canceled Democratic voters in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, and other GOP-run states.)

Worse, skewing political lines so that victory for one party or another is guaranteed only widens the gulf that has helped turn Washington into its current pit of dysfunction.

The lack of competition means that the biggest fear of many MPs is not the possibility of losing to another party in the general election, but the possibility of being eliminated by a more ideological and extreme rival in the primary election.

This makes it more difficult to achieve the cooperation and cross-party compromise that is a key lubricant for the way Washington should work.

Witness the government shutdown, now in its record 36th day. Then imagine a Congress that meets in January 2027, with more lawmakers guaranteed to be re-elected and primarily concerned with appeasing their party’s activist base.

The galvanizing impulse behind Proposition 50 is understandable.

Trump rules The most brazenly corrupt administration in modern history. He went beyond violating political and presidential norms and openly trampled on the Constitution.

He has made it clear that he only cares about those who support him, which excludes him majority of Americans Those who do not want to see Trump return to the White House.

As if anyone needed reminding, his (obviously false) bleat about the “rigged” California election just minutes after the polls opened on Tuesday showed just how reckless, misguided and deeply irresponsible the president is.

With the midterm elections still nearly a year away — and the 2028 presidential contest a long time away — many of those angry or despairing about the murky state of our union desperately wanted to do so. Something push back.

But Proposition 50 was a shortsighted solution.

Newsom and other supporters said the retaliatory ballot measure was a way to fight fire with fire. But this smell in the air today is not victory.

Ash.