Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About California's Proposition 50

What Does Prop 50 Mean for California?

The California Information Guide reads as follows:

(PROP 50) AUTHORIZES TEMPORARY CHANGES TO CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT MAPS IN RESPONSE TO TEXAS' PARTISAN REDISTRICTING. LEGISLATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

What Does Your Vote Mean?

A YES vote on Prop. 50 means:

The state would use new, legislatively drawn congressional district maps starting in 2026. California’s new maps would be used until the California Citizens Redistricting Commission draws new maps following the 2030 U.S. Census.

A NO vote on this measure means:

Current congressional district maps drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (Commission) would continue to be used in California until the Commission draws new maps following the 2030 U.S. Census.

How does California's representation change with Prop 50?

California currently has 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Forty-three of the seats are held by Democrats and nine by Republicans. The new maps attempt to remove five Republicans and replace them with Democrats by funneling more urban voters into traditionally rural districts.

The five California Republicans targeted by the redistricting plan include the following representatives:

• Doug LaMalfa in District 1

• Kevin Kiley in District 3

• David Valadao in District 22

• Ken Calvert in District 41

• Darrell Issa in District 48

If Proposition 50 is successful, Democrats could hold 48 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives whereas Republicans would be reduced to four seats.

"Summary: Opponents of Prop. 50 want voters to resist gerrymandering. Supporters are doing everything they can to make the election about Trump."—CalMatters, Non-profit and Non-partisan News

What is Gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries to advantage a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency.

What Would the New Districts Look Like?

Below are three maps to best illustrate the outcome of your vote on Proposition 50. Blue represents a Democratic district and red indicates a Republican district. You may click on the images to enlarge them.

The map on the far left is how the California districts stand currently.

The middle map shows what districts will look like if the vote for Proposition 50 is passed.

The map on the right shows how the House Elections went in 2024.

L-R: Current CA Districts | Proposed CA Districts | CA Districts 2024 House Elections | Data as of Sept. 5, 2025 | Maps: Nicki Camberg / Get the Facts Data TeamSource: California Secretary of State | | Click |es to enlarge.

How do other states draw congressional maps?

● In most states, the legislature has primary control of the redistricting process, both for state legislative and congressional districts.

● Only California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New York, and Montana use independent commissions to draw congressional lines.

"The November ballot measure would redraw congressional districts to favor Democrats"—CalMatters, Non-profit and Non-partisan News

When are the lines redrawn?

● New maps are redrawn every 10 years after the US Census is completed to reflect the state’s number of representatives to ensure roughly equivalent population in districts

● The CCRC certified new district maps on December 27th, 2021 (after the 2020 Census).

What or Who is the CCRC?

What Effect Would Prop 50 Have?

It would change the percentage of registered Republicans and Democrats in ten districts so that:

• Democrats would have an advantage in five districts currently represented by Republicans

• More Democrats would be pulled into five swing districts currently represented by Democrats.

What are the Fiscal Effects if Prop 50 Passes?

● One-time costs to counties of up to a few million dollars to update election materials to reflect new congressional district maps.

● One-time costs to the state of $200K.

Who supports Proposition 50?

California's Democratic leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, and every Democrat who represents California in Congress, such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Several national Democrats also support the measure, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Also CA Professional Firefighters, CA Federation of Teachers, SEIU CA State Council, Indivisible California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of CA and the CA Democratic Party.

What do Supporters Say About Prop 50?

• Is a temporary emergency plan to stop attempts to unfairly rig the 2026 election.

• Requires voters’ approval

• Creates fair maps and protects from partisan gerrymandering.

• Keeps California a leader in fair elections

• Strengthens democracy by making sure Republicans don’t have an unfair advantage in Congress

Who are the largest donors on the support side?

George Soros' Fund for Policy Reform donated $10 million, and another $10 million came from the House Majority Political Action Committee (PAC). It also received $6.9 million from left-leaning Moveon.Org PAC. The labor group SEIU has donated a total of $3.7 million, while the California Teachers Association has provided $3 million. The CCA Nurses Association gave $2,600,000 and Michael Mortiz donated $2,500,000. Newsom's 2022 gubernatorial campaign has donated $2.6 million and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has chipped in $2 million.

Separately from Gov. Gavin Newsom's campaign, billionaire Tom Steyer is spending $12 million to support the measure by running ads to encourage voters to support the measure.

TOTAL RAISED : $127.5 MILLION

Who is Against Proposition 50?

The California Republican Party, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Charles Munger Jr., and members of the California Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission, including Chairman Neal Fornaciari and Patricia Sinay. Also Carl DeMaio, CA Business Roundtable and the Congressional Leadership Fund.

What do Opponents Say About Prop 50?

• Is a power grab by politicians

• Replaces an open public process, repealing a voter-approved reform that put the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission in charge of drawing California’s Congressional districts.

• Hurts fair representation. Statewide, these new maps will divide counties 114 times and cities 141 times—including many Latino, Asian and Black communities who fought to stay unified in the same district.

• Allows politicians to control district lines for years and could open the door to permanent control. We should maintain California’s gold standard for fair redistricting and lead the country in showing that independent, citizen-led redistricting is the better path forward.

• Costs taxpayers $200-300 million, while California is facing a $20 billion deficit. It wastes money that could be better spent on funding key priorities like public safety and emergency response

Summary: Prop 50 dilutes community representation and silences voters’ voices—all to benefit a few politicians. 

“The independent redistricting process has helped ensure that diverse communities across California can advocate effectively for their needs. Prop 50 discards that progress by merging urban ethnic neighborhoods with far-flung rural areas that have little in common, protecting politicians at the expense of real representation.”—Revered Dwight Williams, President of the California Senior Alliance

Who are the largest donors on the opposition side?

Republicans in Congress through The Congressional Leadership fund donated $41.6 million, Charles Munger Jr. has provided $32.7 million, $1 million from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and another $1 million from businessman and tech entrepreneur Thomas Siebel, who is California First Partner and Gov. Newsom's wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom's second cousin.

TOTAL RAISED : $78 MILLION

When Can I Vote?

October 25, 2025: Vote centers open for early in person voting

November 4, 2025: Election Day. All votes must be cast, or a mailed ballot must be postmarked by this date.

Sources: Ashley Zavala, Political Director at KCRA-3 in Sacramento | Yes on Prop 50, Gov. Gavid Newsom's Ballot Measure Committee | Vote No Prop 50 | League of Women Voters of North & Central San Mateo County (Non-partisan) | League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County (Non-partisan) | California Secretary of State | CalMatters

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