To the editor: Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urges California voters to reject redistricting/gerrymandering, to vote against Proposition 50 (“Schwarzenegger decries polarization, criticizes Newsom’s gerrymandering effort,” Sept. 15). He argues that we shouldn’t fight for democracy by abandoning democratic principles.
Schwarzenegger, your problem is not with the voters of California. It’s with the legislators and voters of Texas, Missouri and other red states, and with the president of the United States.
Democrats are often (rightfully) accused of being too passive, of not fighting back. In normal times, I wouldn’t want Prop 50; I don’t know anybody who would. But I see no alternative.
Richard Shafarman, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: Schwarzenegger is being disingenuous. Prop 50 is extremely democratic. Unlike Texans, Californians will get to vote on whether they want to go forward with redistricting. There will be an election. The map will be on the ballot. Furthermore, Prop 50 doesn’t “dismantle,” as Schwarzenegger said, the independent commission. Prop 50 is designed to expire and reestablish the independent commission.
Look, nobody (except those looking for a power grab) likes gerrymandering. It’s cheating. Fighting back against a cheater doesn’t make you a cheater, and standing up to a bully in the White House doesn’t make you a bully. California didn’t pick this fight. But we cannot just lie down and let authoritarian wannabes roll right over us. Prop 50 is transparent, it’s temporary, and if you don’t like the direction we’re headed, voting “Yes“ is one of our last best chances to turn this bus around.
JB Newton, Studio City
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To the editor; In 2010, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 20, 62.2% to 38.8%, giving congressional redistricting authority to an independent 14-member citizen commission. Having been an active supporter of that measure, I must vehemently disagree with the sentiments expressed by sitting commissioner and guest contributor Isra Ahmad in her support of the current Prop 50 (“You’re voting in a rigged game. That’s why Prop 50 matters,” Sept. 17).
When President Trump coaxed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott into a mid-decade redrawing of Texas’ congressional districts to give the GOP an opportunity to win more seats in the 2026 election year, Gov. Gavin Newsom felt compelled to respond with his own gerryrigged gamesmanship to give the Democrats additional seats by nullifying the conscientious work of our state’s citizens commission.
Not only do two wrongs not make a right, but in recent years, both major political parties have engaged in an accelerated race to the bottom in which the pursuit of political power, by any means necessary, has been all that matters.
On Nov. 4, California voters will have an opportunity to resist this farcical exercise by voting a resounding “No” on Prop 50.
Jim Redhead, San Diego