Former President Obama is appearing in a new TV ad urging voters to support California’s Prop 50 redistricting plan.
Newsom signs Election Fraud Act in retaliation against Texas
California has passed a bill that would allow voters to redraw the U.S. House of Representatives map in 2026, countering Texas’ planned redistricting to increase Republican seats. (Scripps News)
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- Former President Barack Obama appears in a new ad supporting California’s Proposition 50 redistricting plan.
- The “Yes on 50” campaign led by Gov. Gavin Newsom is a response to Republican-led redistricting efforts in other states.
- President Obama’s ad claims that Prop. 50 will counter Republican attempts to “rig the next election” and preserve independent redistricting.
OAKLAND, Calif. – Former President Barack Obama is stepping up his efforts to support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California redistricting plan, Proposition 50, by appearing in television commercials.
President Obama expressed support for the first time two months ago to let California voters decide on redistricting, but in a 30-second spot that began airing across the state on October 14, he called on voters to support Prop. 50, saying democracy was at stake.
“Californians, all of America is counting on you,” President Obama said in a commercial released about three weeks before Election Day. “Democracy will be voted on November 4th.”
The ad featuring Mr. Obama also ran days after mail-in ballots were sent to California’s 23 million registered voters. This is part of the “Yes on 50” campaign, a multi-million dollar strategy to push California state legislative redistricting through elections. Newsom is leading the effort on Prop. 50, the mid-decade redistricting effort after President Donald Trump called on several Republican-led states, including Texas, to redraw their congressional districts to favor Republicans and maintain a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.
“Republicans are trying to rig the next election and steal enough seats to give them two more years of unchecked power,” Obama said in the ad, which quickly included images of Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and footage of recent ICE raids.
“With Prop. 50, we can stop the Republican Party. Prop. 50 will restore a level playing field to our elections, preserve independent redistricting for the long term, and put the decision in the hands of the people. Return your ballot today,” Obama said, pointing multiple times during the commercial.
Obama isn’t the only big-name politician involved in Proposition 50.
Obama is the latest politician to weigh in on the Prop 50 fight. Former California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also participated in the debate, urging voters to reject Prop. 50, which he believes erodes democratic principles, adding, “The true power of change is in the power of the people.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me that you have to fight Trump to be Trump,” Schwarzenegger said at a debate on democracy at the University of Southern California in September. He said both Democrats and Republicans are divisive.
“Two wrongs do not make a right,” he said.
As governor, Mr. Schwarzenegger led the efforts of an independent commission to oversee California’s redistricting. Although his first attempt failed, voters ultimately approved the reform in 2008 and state law was passed in 2010, allowing a commission of citizens to draw the maps. Schwarzenegger said the changes helped restore public trust.
Schwarzenegger’s USC comments previously appeared in a commercial produced and paid for by the No 50 campaign, which was heavily funded by Republican megadonor Charles Munger Jr.
“What they want to do is set us back, and that’s why it’s important that you vote no on Proposition 50,” Schwarzenegger told the audience in the ad. “The Constitution does not begin with ‘We the Politicians.’ It begins with ‘We the People.’ …Democracy — we have to protect it and we have to fight for it. ”
USC later said the event with Mr. Schwarzenegger was bipartisan and that the “50 Years No” movement did not have permission to use the university’s event in advertising.
