by Randy Shaw on September 2, 2025 (BeyondChron.org)
California Governor Gavin Newsom has stepped up to lead the national battle to save democracy. Newsom has provided a desperately needed vehicle for anti-Trump activists: a statewide campaign in November for Californians to reject the wanna be dictator’s agenda. By redrawing congressional districts, Prop 50 directly responds to Trump’s plans to rig elections in 2026 in Texas and other red states.
There’s a reason Prop 50 is called the Election Rigging Response Act. Because Trump’s demand that red states redraw district lines after five years rather than the standard ten is a direct attempt to rig the 2026 elections.
Newsom’s rapid response to Trump’s plans changed the game. It’s even got other blue state governors like Wes Moore of Maryland and New York’s Kathy Hochul considering their own redistricting measures.
Field, Field, Field
If Prop 50 were on the November 2026 ballot it would win easily. But California voters aren’t used to casting ballots in November of odd numbered years. Getting people to vote on November 4, 2025 requires a massive off-year statewide field campaign.
I normally would think that such an odd-year field campaign could not recruit the numbers needed to prevail. But these aren’t normal times. Prop 50 is really a campaign against an authoritarian regime that will do whatever it takes to thwart democracy.
Trump isn’t content to rig the 2026 elections by redrawing legislative lines five years early. He also recently called to end mail ballots. He has previously criticized how California and other states count mailed in ballots that arrive after Election Day.
Trump’s only chance to defeat Prop 50 is to weaken turnout. And the only way Prop 50 gets the turnout needed to stop Trump is through a massive field campaign that everyone concerned about the nation’s future can join.
A Referendum on Trump
Prop 50 is a referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency. If, like me, you are constantly hearing from people upset about the latest Trump action, Gavin Newsom has created a vehicle for Californians to fight back.
It’s a vital opportunity.
Some people are not big fans of Newsom. I find people bring up one stand he took that they disagree with as reason not to like him. But Gavin Newsom has completely changed the way other politicians now talk about Donald Trump’s agenda. He has spoken with a bluntness that reflects how his constituents talk about Trump among themselves.
Newsom has mocked Donald Trump in a way that nobody previously did. And he’s clearly got under the skin of the FOX News crowd.
But regardless of whether you like Newsom, opponents of Trump must get on board for the Prop 50 campaign. There’s too much at stake to stay on the sidelines.
Americans have always taken it for granted that national elections in the United States will be held every two years. But Americans also never thought the National Guard would be used for harassing political opponents. Or that in 21st century America people of color could be taken into custody on the street without any cause.
Trump and his followers have changed the rules.
Trump will use Prop 50’s defeat to justify cancelling future elections. Consider his comments last week: “They say, ‘We don’t need him. Freedom. Freedom. He’s a dictator. He’s a dictator.’ A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.’”
Trump’s claim that people support dictators is consistent with his efforts to run for a third term in 2028. The only way to stop him is through resistance.
A Prop 50 victory in November will build this resistance.
Randy Shaw
<I>Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. </I>
