Anti-redistricting mailers began appearing in Bay Area mailboxes before Democrats finalized plans to redraw California's congressional maps. One mailer claimed the plan would "strip away California's constitutional voting protections" and "set a dangerous precedent" by pausing the state's independent redistricting process. The mailer was sent by a political committee led by Charles Munger Jr. Governor Gavin Newsom issued fundraising appeals warning of threats to free and fair elections. On Nov. 4, Proposition 50 would temporarily replace Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission maps with partisan Democratic maps aimed at flipping five GOP seats. The proposal responds to Texas Republicans' mid-cycle gerrymandering and could affect control of the U.S. House. Analysts expect between $100 million and $200 million in campaign spending from competing interest groups.
Even before Democrats finalized their plans to gerrymander California, anti-redistricting mailers were already landing in droves in Bay Area mailboxes. The plan pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies, according to one mailer distributed widely last week, would "strip away California's constitutional voting protections" and "set a dangerous precedent" by temporarily pausing the state's independent process of drawing district lines for seats in Congress.
'We cannot save democracy by burning it down in California,' reads the message. The sender? A political committee led by a billionaire's son, Charles Munger Jr., who once led the Santa Clara County Republican Party. Since then, Newsom has unleashed a torrent of emails seeking donations for the redistricting brawl. 'And God help us if we're not successful,' the governor said in one such appeal on Tuesday. 'We may have enjoyed our last free and fair election.'
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