Republicans, including ‘cowardly’ Schwarzenegger, are criticized for their lopsided defeat on Proposition 50

Republican infighting has crescendoed following California voters’ overwhelming approval this week of a Democratic-friendly redistricting plan that could undermine the Republican Party’s control of Congress and derail President Trump’s polarizing agenda.

The state GOP chairwoman was asked to resign and former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the creation of the state’s independent redistricting commission, was called a “coward” by a top GOP leader for not getting more involved in the campaign.

Leaders of Republican-backed committees opposed to the ballot measure, known as Proposition 50, were questioned about how they spent nearly $58 million in the special election after such a dismal result.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, once a prodigious Republican fundraiser, reportedly swore he could raise $100 million for the opposition but ended up providing a small fraction of that amount.

Rep. Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), a conservative firebrand, called on state GOP Chairman Corrin Rankin to resign and criticized other Republican leaders and longtime party members for their failure to defeat the measure, calling them “derelict of duty, untrustworthy and incompetent.”

“Unless serious changes are made within the party, the midterm elections will be a complete disaster,” DeMaio said, also pointing the finger at other groups opposed to the effort. “We need accountability. There has to be accountability or the lessons won’t be learned. The old guard has to go. The old guard has failed us too many times. This is the final failure.”

Rankin pushed back against criticism, saying the state party was the most active Republican force in the final stretch of the election. Having raised $11 million in the final three weeks of the campaign, the party spent it on direct mail, digital and text ads, as well as organizing phone banks and neighborhood walks, she said.

“We left everything on the ground,” Rankin said Wednesday morning at a news conference in Sacramento about a federal lawsuit filed by California Republicans, arguing that Proposition 50 was unconstitutional. “We were the last man standing…reaching out to the Republicans and making sure they stepped up.” »

Responding to criticism that their efforts were disorganized, including sending opposition campaign mailers to voters who had already voted, Rankin said the party would conduct a review of its efforts. But she added that she was extremely proud of the work her team did during the “rushed special election.”

Barring successful legal challenges, California’s new congressional districts enacted under Proposition 50 will take effect before the 2026 elections. The new district maps favor Democratic candidates and were designed to unseat five Republican incumbents, which could erase the Republicans’ narrow advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives.

If Democrats take control of the body, Trump’s policy agenda will likely be blocked and the president and members of his administration could face multiple congressional investigations.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democrats proposed Proposition 50 in response to Trump urging elected officials in Texas and other GOP-led states to redraw their congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to the House next year.

California’s new congressional boundaries approved by voters Tuesday could give Democrats the chance to pick up five seats in the state’s 52-member congressional delegation.

Proposition 50 will change how California determines congressional district boundaries. The measure asked voters to approve congressional districts designed to favor Democrats for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, overriding the map drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission.

Some Republicans lamented that Schwarzenegger was not more involved in the election. The movie star defended the creation of the independent commission in 2010, his last year in office. He campaigned for the creation of similar bodies to combat partisan redistricting across the country after leaving office.

Shawn Steel, one of three California representatives on the Republican National Committee, called Schwarzenegger a “cowardly politician.”

“Arnold decided not to play,” Steel said. “Arnold simply raised the flag and immediately went under the desk.”

Steel said the former governor failed to follow through on messages he repeatedly delivered about the importance of independent redistricting.

“He could have had his name on the ballot as an opponent,” Steel said. “He refused. So I would say, with Arnold, just disappointing but not surprised. That’s his political legacy.”

Schwarzenegger’s team dismissed this criticism as ill-informed.

“We made it clear from the beginning that he would not participate in the campaign and that he would speak his mind,” said Daniel Ketchell, a spokesman for the former governor. “His message was very clear and nonpartisan. When a campaign couldn’t even criticize gerrymandering in Texas, it was probably hard for voters to believe they actually cared about fairness.”

Schwarzenegger has spoken out against Proposition 50 several times, including an appearance at USC that was turned into a television ad by one of the anti-Proposition 50 committees that appeared to have died down before Election Day.

On Election Day, he sent emails to his subscribers about gut health, electrolytes, protein bars, fitness, and conversations to increase happiness. There was no apparent mention of Tuesday’s election.

California’s Democratic-led Legislature voted in August to place Proposition 50 on the November ballot, costing nearly $300 million and setting off a sprint toward Tuesday’s special election.

Opponents were far outweighed by the ballot measure’s supporters, who contributed nearly $136 million to various efforts. This financial advantage, combined with Democrats’ overwhelming voter registration advantage in California, were major contributors to the vote’s success. When it was introduced in August, Proposition 50 received only lukewarm support and its prospects seemed uncertain.

Nearly 64% of the approximately 8.3 million voters who cast ballots supported Proposition 50, while 36% opposed it as of Wednesday evening, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.

Besides the state Republican Party, two major campaign committees opposed Proposition 50, including the one supported by McCarthy. A separate group was funded by more than $32 million from the Republican Party’s top donor, Charles Munger Jr., the son of a billionaire who was Warren Buffet’s right-hand man; he funded the creation of the independent Congressional Redistricting Commission in 2010.

Representatives for both commissions — who defended their work Tuesday night after the election was called moments after polls closed, saying they couldn’t overcome the enormous financial disadvantage and that the proposal’s supporters needed to be held to their promises to voters, such as pushing for national redistricting reform — did not respond to repeated requests for comment Wednesday.

Newsom’s committee supporting Proposition 50 had prominent Democrats opposing the effort, including former President Obama who was featured in ads.

This stands in stark contrast to the opposition’s efforts. Trump was largely absent, perhaps because he is deeply unpopular among Californians and the president does not like to be associated with losing causes.