County Supervisors back Prop. 50, a redistricting amendment on California voters’ ballots.

At a press conference in July, President Donald Trump responded to an inquiry about congressional districts in Texas, saying, “Just a very simple redrawing, we pick up five seats. But we have a couple of other states where we’ll pick up seats also.”

New congressional maps in Texas have since been drawn for partisan gain and were signed into law on Aug. 29 by Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, triggering a response by California Gov. Gavin Newsom alongside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate pro Tempore Mike McGuire. Their aim: to give Californians the option to redraw districts before the mid-term elections, or as Newsom called it, an opportunity to “fight fire with fire.”

California’s Proposition 50 (named for the 50 states) aims to nullify Texas’ redistricting, which is expected to pick up five additional seats for the Republican Party, by creating the equivalent five seats favoring the Democratic Party in California. On Sept. 16, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0, with Supervisor Glenn Church abstaining, to support Prop. 50 and the special election scheduled for Nov. 4.

“This is a position I would never have imagined being in,” Supervisor Wendy Root Askew said. “But watching the harm I’m seeing happen to people, watching democracy be brought to the edge where there’s talk of no more elections happening, watching my colleagues be told that they can’t enter the White House for meetings that we duly are entitled to have as elected leaders – the risks to our democracy have never felt more real.”

If passed, the new maps would remain in effect until 2030. Monterey County would receive $3.5 million from the state to administer the election.

The supervisors mostly spoke about what is at stake in November. In abstaining, Church said he did not want to influence voters.

“When you combine the rhetoric with the action and choose to sit back and do nothing,” Supervisor Kate Daniels said, “that’s a really bad place to be.”