As Californians begin voting on Democrats’ efforts to bolster their ranks in Congress, former President Obama warned that democracy was in peril by urging voters to support Proposition 50 in a television ad that began airing Tuesday.
“California, the entire nation is counting on you,” Obama says in the 30-second ad that the main pro-Proposition 50 campaign began airing Tuesday across the state. “Democracy is on the ballot on November 4. »
The spot is part of a multimillion-dollar ad buy promoting the congressional redistricting measure throughout the election.
Proposition 50 was launched by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democratic leaders this summer after President Trump urged Republican-led states, including Texas, to redraw their congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to the House in next year’s midterm elections, in an effort to continue implementing his agenda in his final years of office. mandate.
“Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years,” Obama says in the ad, which includes footage of ICE raids. “With Proposition 50, you can stop Republicans in their tracks. Proposition 50 puts our elections on a level playing field, preserves independent redistricting for the long term, and lets the people decide. Return your ballot today.”
Congressional districts have long been drawn in smoke-filled chambers by partisans intent on protecting their parties’ power and incumbents. But good-government groups and elected officials, including former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have fought to get the drawing of congressional boundaries out of the hands of politicians to end gerrymandering and create more competitive districts.
Obama, a longtime proponent of ending gerrymandering, had already endorsed the ballot measure.
In California, those districts were drawn by an independent commission created by voters in 2010, so the state’s Democrats must go to the polls to seek partisan redistricting mid-decade that could improve their party’s chances in five of the state’s 52 congressional districts.
The ad featuring Obama, who spoke on comedian Marc Maron’s latest podcast Monday about Trump’s policies testing the nation’s values, appears on California televisions after mail-in ballots were sent to the state’s 23 million registered voters last week.
The prospects for this proposal are uncertain: It is an obscure subject that few Californians are familiar with, and off-year elections traditionally have low turnout. Yet more than $150 million has flowed to the three main committees supporting and opposing the proposal, plus millions more to fund other efforts.
Obama isn’t the only famous person to appear in Proposition 50 ads.
In September, Schwarzenegger, who championed the creation of an independent redistricting commission while in office and has since campaigned for similar reforms across the country, was featured in ads opposing the November ballot measure.
He described Proposition 50 as favoring established politicians over voters.
“That’s what they want to do, is take us backwards. That’s why it’s important that you vote no on Prop 50,” the Hollywood celebrity and former governor said in the ad filmed last month while speaking to USC students. “The Constitution does not begin with “We the Politicians.” It begins with “We the People.” … We must protect democracy and we must fight for it.”
