In the lead-up to California’s Nov. 4 special election to approve its proposed Democratic gerrymander, state party leaders are butting heads over messaging strategy.
Democrat mega-donor and failed 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer caused a stir when his last-minute $12 million ad buy in early October featured a self-given monologue highlighting his opposition to President Donald Trump, which some Democrats deemed too personally motivated.
“The Democratic Party were furious at me for organizing the Need to Impeach campaign, but we saw the threat,” Steyer said in the ad. “It’s Texas versus California. You want to beat Trump? Democrats can’t keep playing by the old rules. Vote yes on Prop 50, and let’s stick it to Trump.”
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Proposition 50, the only statewide measure on California’s November ballot, would temporarily amend the state’s Constitution to allow its legislature to draw new congressional maps through 2030 — likely netting the Democratic party five additional U.S. House seats. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats pushed the measure after Texas Republicans enacted mid-decade congressional remaps expected to net the GOP their own five seats in the 2026 election.
“We’re not sure why he’s so obsessed with promoting himself,” an anonymous senior California House Democrat told Politico. “This is bigger than him. This is about democracy.”
“Democrats need to stop snipping at each other and focus on the real threat: Donald Trump,” Steyer spokesperson Kevin Liao said in a statement provided to Politico.
Steyer’s ad reportedly further angered many Democrats due to its competing for airtime with another Prop 50 campaign featuring former president Barack Obama. Steyer’s team disagreed with this assertion, telling Politico that their buy supplemented, not competed, with Obama’s.
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“There’s no Democratic messenger in the country, and especially in California, that’s more powerful than Barack Obama,” a major California labor leader associated with the campaign told Politico. “What kind of ego do you have to have to say, ‘I see that Barack Obama is up. I’m going to put myself in the mix?’”
Recent polls indicate that the referendum on Prop 50 is neck and neck, with a UC Berkeley poll finding 48% support for the proposition among likely voters, and an Emerson College poll reporting 51% support.
The fight over California’s Prop 50 comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers in Louisiana v. Callais, a case that seeks to end race-based redistricting, potentially upending decades of precedent on how states draw congressional districts.
“Honestly, I’m very concerned. And anybody who loves democracy and believes that voting rights are preservative of all other rights ought to be deeply concerned,” Democratic Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock told the DCNF on Wednesday, referring to the Louisiana case. “This is having an impact, and if the Supreme Court gets it wrong on Section two, that has huge implications, not just on black voters, but on the health of our democracy.”
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