If you’ve noticed a sudden influx of election mailers in your mailbox, you’re not alone. A fall that was supposed to be free of elections has turned into a big and expensive political fight centered on redistricting.
What’s at Stake
Congressman Darrell Issa represents a district that went for President Donald Trump by more than 15 percentage points. Normally, that wouldn’t make him a top Democratic target. But now, two well-known challengers are lining up endorsements to run against him: Ammar Campa-Najjar, who previously ran against Issa, and San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert.
Both see an opening because the district lines may soon change. In about five weeks, voters will decide whether to adopt a new map advanced by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Here’s how those changes would shake out:
Issa’s district:
- Old district voted for Trump by 15.3 points
- New district would have voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by 2.6 points
Mike Levin’s district:
- Old district voted Harris +7.8
- New district would have voted Harris +12.1
Scott Peters’ district:
- Old district voted Harris +29.6
- New district would have voted Harris +17.5
Normally, California’s districts are drawn by an independent commission. But the November ballot measure would temporarily override that system.
Why the Mailers Matter
That brings us back to the campaign mailers arriving in your mailbox.
One was bankrolled by Charles Munger Jr., a Republican donor and Palo Alto physicist. It quoted the president of the League of Women Voters of California saying lawmakers should reject the “dangerous” idea of mid-cycle redistricting.
The League of Women Voters was upset that they were being used by the mailer supporting a Republican perspective.
“We are squarely in the fight against President Trump’s authoritarian and dangerous policies that threaten the civil rights and liberties of all Americans,” said Deputy California Director Dora Rose in a statement. ”California’s independent redistricting commission is the gold standard — a national model for fair elections, community input, and transparency. We understand the threat authoritarianism poses, but the way to fight it is not by breaking our own democratic safeguards.”
This battle is drawing millions of dollars. Netflix founder Reed Hastings has donated heavily to support Newsom’s plan to redraw districts.
So expect your mailbox to stay full this fall.
I was appalled when I received the first of 3! expensive mailers, all within one week, against Prop. 50. The first one is four 8.5×11 pages and includes two (at least) fake quotes opposing the measure. All are paid for by Republican supporters.
As a member of the California League of Women Voters, I received an email from the president of the California LWV categorically rejecting the fake quote.
I had done some quick research and learned that the purported (but fake) quote from the so-called Executive Director of California Common Cause also is fake. The person quoted is a Director, not ED, and Ca Common Cause has not taken a position against Prop. 50. In addition, the 7/21/25 “press release” cited for the Common Cause quote doesn’t appear to exist – it certainly isn’t among the press releases listed on the Ca Common Cause site. Here is the link to the Common Cause statement regarding Prop 5 (no formal position yet taken): https://www.commoncause.org/
Be Aware! Republicans are terrified of losing the majority in the House of Representatives and will spend fortunes and lie constantly to convince California voters to not say Yes to Prop 50. I will vote Yes and I hope others will – we cannot afford to allow Republican-control states to rig their elections without making every effort to fight back.
I don’t like gerrymandering, but this ridiculous fight was started by Texas Republicans. If Issa and the California Republicans have integrity and believe what they are saying is correct, then they need to state what Texas did is wrong! If they don’t, they are hypocrites and I will vote yes here in California.
Kevin…. it would seem that you do not have a comprehensive understanding of the gerrymandering issue. Texas has 38 House members. 25 Republican (66%) and 12 Democrat (32%). Trump won 56% and Harris won 45% of the vote… so pretty close. California on the other hand has only 17% Republican representation in the House versus a 40% vote for Trump. How is that a fair representation? And they are trying to reduce that “representation” to 4-7%. Not very “democratic” if you ask me. Futhermore … there are 9 states (MA, CT, ME, NM, NH, RI, VT, HI, and DE) with ZERO Republican house members. I don;t know what the votes were in each of those states … but I am guessing it was alot higher than 0. So I understand your shock at Texas switching things up… but the truth is Democrats have been winning the gerrymandering battle for YEARS. So getting back to even seems fari play to me.
Any yet after all the representation complaint, GOPhers still have more house seats. And based on your Texas voting to house seat control, it would seem Democrats are under represented there, and yet Texas wants to skew more. Not very democratic, if you ask me.
Wish there was a Toad Gloria recall on this.