Local officials rally for Prop 50: Thompson, Ramos and Gallagher urge support for redistricting measure
Elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, rallied on Monday in Napa in support of Proposition 50, the redistricting measure that could send more California Democrats to Congress.
The rally took place in front of Napa County’s Administration Building in Napa as California voters begin to cast their vote-by-mail ballots in the Nov. 4 special election.
If approved in November, Proposition 50 would help Democrats flip five additional California congressional districts. The measure would temporarily set aside the congressional district map created by California’s independent redistricting commission, the panel that draws congressional maps based on the latest U.S. Census.
Proposition 50’s new congressional district map would be temporary. The map would only be valid for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. California’s independent redistricting commission would regain control of the congressional district map after the 2030 U.S. Census.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats launched the Proposition 50 campaign this summer after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott created five new Republican-leaning Congressional districts. Abbott did so as the Trump administration is seeking to maintain a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives ahead of the 2025 mid-term elections. California’s Congressional delegation now includes 43 Democrats and nine Republicans.
California Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, on Monday said President Donald Trump called Abbott, asking the Texas governor, “‘Find me five Congressional seats’… And guess what?”
Abbott “did just that,” McGuire said. “He permanently redistricted five Congressional seats in Texas.”
Trump and Republicans cannot win the 2026 mid-term elections without cheating, McGuire told the crowd. “They have to cheat to win.”
“Now is not the time to agonize,” McGuire said. “Now is the time to organize.”
Thompson said Republicans are trying to rig the mid-term elections. “Because they know with the policies that they’ve been pushing, they cannot win the mid-terms unless they cheat,” he said. “We need to fight and we need to win.”
Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos said California was ready to fight back. “We are going to meet them with equal force and we’re going to make sure that we always stand tall for the values of integrity, the values of transparency, because every single person matters,” she said.
Napa County Supervisor Joelle Gallagher also urged support for Proposition 50.
Republican politicians across the county have redrawn maps “to protect their own power and silence working people,” Gallagher said. “It is a direct attack on democracy. And let’s be clear: if they can do it there, they can do it here.
“Proposition 50 is California’s answer,” she said.
“This isn’t abstract,” Gallager said. “When our voices are silenced, it’s wages, healthcare, housing and safe places that get pushed aside.”
On Tuesday, the Napa County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 for a resolution endorsing Proposition 50.
Opponents to Proposition 50 have called the proposal a “power grab.” The opposition includes former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Sam Blakeslee, a former Republican state senator, and current and former members of the California Redistricting Commission, according to the No on 50 website.
Opponents argue that voters in 2008 created the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission. According to the arguments against the measure in the Official Voter Information Guide, a “no” vote “protects fair elections and keeps the people of California –– not politicians –– in charge of redistricting.”
Thompson’s 4th Congressional District now includes all of Napa and Lake counties as well as parts of Sonoma, Solano and Yolo counties.
If Proposition 50 passes, Napa County in its entirety would remain in Thompson’s district, as would a big part of Sonoma County and most of Yolo County. The 4th District, however, would also include Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties as well as part of Lake, Placer and Sacramento counties.
Solano County would be part of District 8, which is now represented by U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove.
Thompson said he had represented Sutter and Colusa counties as a state senator. He served as a state senator between 1990 and 1998, when he was elected to the U.S. Congress. He has served as a U.S. Representative since 1999.
Union leaders, Napa Valley Democrats and others also attended Monday’s rally.
“This initiative needs to pass so that true representation is maintained in the House of Representatives,” American Canyon City Councilwoman Melissa Lamattina said. “We’re living in unprecedented times.”
The measure is one of California’s costliest campaigns, according to news reports. As of early October, more than $127 million had been raised to support Proposition 50, according to the California Secretary of State. Opponents to the measure have raised about $77.5 million.
