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Eye-for-an-eye politics will be on the ballot in California this November, and San Mateo County supervisors David Canepa and Lisa Gauthier came out swinging Monday in Redwood City.
“They [say] ‘Don’t mess with Texas,’ but we will and we will win,” Canepa said about a rally Monday morning outside of the county building in front of roughly 50 people. “California voters will not be silenced by Trump’s cronies in Texas.”
Gauthier and Canepa called on voters to approve Proposition 50, also called the Election Rigging Response Act, which would change California’s voting maps between 2026 and 2030 and target five of the state’s 52 districts. San Mateo County is not among them.
They will introduce a resolution in support of the proposition at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
The measure, described by critics as a Democratic power grab, is a constitutional amendment that would redraw district maps in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced the proposition, which he said comes as a reactionary measure to “save democracy” nationwide.
Donald Trump entered into his second presidential term with a trifecta — the Republican party dominating the presidency, Senate and House of Representatives. Such has enabled the president to maintain a chokehold on the levers of government and pass sweeping legislation.
All of that could change next year, when the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections will decide whether Republicans keep control of the House.
Conscious of the stakes, the president called on the Texas House of Representatives to redraw its congressional maps to favor Republican candidates and potentially lock in another GOP majority at the federal level.
For over a decade, California has championed independent districting, thanks to the work of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Redistricting Commission. Proposition 50 would do just the opposite.
The Election Rigging Response Act is for “neutralizing Trump’s power grab,” according to Newsom’s press release about the act. His multi-million-dollar ad campaign endorsing the prop includes ads titled “emergency” and “Blitzkrieg,” which accuse Trump of “following the dictator’s playbook,” and call on voters to approve the measure to “even the playing field.”
San Mateo County is split between California’s 15th Congressional District, represented by Kevin Mullin, and California’s 16th Congressional District, represented by Sam Liccardo, both of whom are Democrats.
Should the measure pass, CA-15 is expected to gain a stronger Asian American representation, according to the Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment. Beyond that, redistricting in the county is expected to be minor. The first map draft of Prop 50 left a handful of districts untouched and fewer than 10% of Californians affected.
“Right now people feel hopeless, like there’s nothing they can do to combat what is going on with the federal government,” Gauthier told the Pulse. “Every California voter will have an opportunity to show this sitting president what they value on Nov. 4.”
Speakers at the rally, beyond Gauthier and Canepa, included Assembly member Diane Papan, D-21, Assembly member Marc Berman, D-23, and State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park. Over a dozen organizations endorsed the event, including the San Mateo County Democratic Party, and many of whom are labor unions whose work is directly affected by congressional districting.
Carlos Alvares, 61, a journeyman laborer with the union Local 261, was one such attendee.
“What scares me the most is losing work,” Alvares voiced. “Redistricting means fighting for more work at other districts. 261 in SF has our back.”
Another union member, a business representative part of the Operating Engineers Local 3, Ethan Lester, said most of his group’s membership voted for Trump, and now “they’re like woah, what’s happening.” He noted the loss in federal funding for public works projects, which directly impacts his livelihood. He sees Prop 50 as a means to reject the president’s policies.
Attendees included community leaders as well, like Ashely Rhodes, 75, of Aboriginal Blackman United.
“[Newsom] is the only one that’s punching Trump back in the nose,” Rhodes said. “This is a real fight for Democrats. Maybe [Prop 50] will wake up his other constituents.”
The proposition will go before California voters in a special election Nov. 4.
