Newsom’s backroom gerrymander gamble betrays voters and dismantles democracy

California has always touted itself as a beacon of democracy. In 2008 and 2010, voters enacted constitutional amendments establishing an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is the gold standard for redistricting and should serve as the national model.

Here in California, unlike other states, our citizens pick their representatives – the representatives don’t pick their citizens. In our Constitution, our criteria is that we keep cities, counties, and communities of interest together while drafting district lines in public, during hearings across the state.

Gavin Newsom wants to go against our Constitution. He drafted maps behind closed doors without community input, splitting counties 16 times and cities more than 100 times, again, without public hearings. The result will be no competitive districts in the state of California. Where voters today have a voice on who is elected, that will go away with Newsom’s redistricting scheme.

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Gavin’s gerrymander gamble will also cost the state between $200 and $250 million dollars. I find it interesting that the governor could not find the money to fund Proposition 36, which would make crime illegal again in California and passed by nearly 70% of voters in 58 counties. But he did find the money to pay for his redistricting ploy that would go against our Constitution.

The governor says this is a temporary measure, but from my experience, nothing is temporary when it passes. The supermajority said the tax increase would be temporary, but it became permanent. The Golden Gate Bridge toll was supposed to be temporary, but it became permanent. I do not believe for one second that this is temporary, and neither should you.

Here is another problem: when governors abandon a system built to prevent precisely this kind of manipulation, whether in Texas or California, they undermine democracy itself. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has weighed in, not with partisan rhetoric, but with sober warning. In an interview, the former governor stated his strong opposition to gerrymandering: “I have seen it first-hand, how it’s the evil of politics,” and added, “It’s very clearly an attack on the people’s choice. It is gaining more power for the politicians.” Schwarzenegger has urged Newsom to uphold the independent commission rather than abandon it.

At stake is not a congressional seat or two, but the principle that voters—not political parties—should draw their own districts. One op-ed from a former chair of California’s first independent redistricting commission stated that “Californians should demand that Newsom and legislative leaders respect the will of the people and not sacrifice the independent redistricting commission, nor the state’s limited financial resources, for short-term political gain.”

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I support California Congressman Kevin Kiley’s pro-democracy legislation, which abolishes mid-decade redistricting nationwide and call on the governor, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and all lawmakers to join me in supporting the federal legislation. California must neither sacrifice nor sidestep the citizen-led redistricting commission to fight gerrymandering because it will invite a dangerous trend. When one side bends democratic rules for advantage, the other follows. When both do, democracy stops being about voters, and instead becomes a race to redraw lines. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Democracy is not about winning seats through clever gerrymanders. It is through winning the trust of our citizens and their votes. California must not abandon our system for temporary gain when the long-term health of our democracy is at stake.