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Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50 gambit comes back to haunt California

15 0
08.05.2026

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Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50 gambit comes back to haunt California

Gavin Newsom spent hundreds of millions of dollars that California doesn’t have when he passed Proposition 50 to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts, drawing Republicans out of office.

Then he backed an effort in Virginia to do the same — even though “moderate” Democrat Abigail Spanberger had made a specific campaign promise last year not to gerrymander the districts.

On Friday, Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s new map, which would have taken an evenly divided congressional delegation (six Democrats, five Republicans) and skewed it 10-to-1 for Democrats.

But here’s where Democrats really lost.

Newsom cast Proposition 50 as a response to an effort to redraw the congressional map in Texas to favor Republicans by eliminating several Democrat-held seats.

Never mind that the Department of Justice had advised that those Texas seats, drawn specifically to represent racial minorities, were likely unconstitutional.

Newsom used the opportunity to do what Democrats have long wanted to do in California, and........

© New York Post