What to Do About Proposition 50? 
California is holding a special election on Nov. 4, 2025. The State legislature put one item on the ballot. According to the CA. State Legislative Analyst, Proposition 50 “authorizes temporary changes to congressional district maps in response to Texas’ partisan redistricting.”
The new maps will remain in effect until 2031, when the Independent Redistricting Commission will resume enacting maps after the 2030 census and beyond.
The Peace and Freedom Party of California is not taking an official position either for or against Proposition 50. Both sides perpetuate a winner-take all system which does not give voters a choice beyond the two ruling parties.
Because our members have various opinions about Proposition 50, we are publishing some of their thoughts in this symposium.
"Vote Your Own Way"
The Peace and Freedom Party is not making a formal recommendation on Proposition 50. Partisan gerrymandering does nothing to bring about a political system in which working people have more power.
The Peace and Freedom Party favors proportional representation from multi-member districts, so that all points of view are represented in Congress and legislatures. We also favor taking the money out of politics. Working people need their own parties, and working people need socialist solutions to the problems inflicted upon them by the billionaires.
I recognize that the issue of partisan off-year gerrymandering was raised by the Republican Party, starting in Texas, and that those who oppose the fascist direction of the current administration may quite reasonably want to respond by changing the maps in other states to reduce the advantage the reactionaries are gaining from their outrageous power grab in states they dominate. Many Peace and Freedom Party members, like many other Californians, will vote for Proposition 50 for this reason.
A number of party activists have been asked to submit statements expressing their own opinions, which you will find below.
Vote as you please on Proposition 50, but please keep working for real solutions.
Kevin Akin, State Chair, Peace and Freedom Party
"Vote YES in This Fight"
My name is Sheila Xiao and I am a Peace and Freedom Party officer. I support a YES vote on Proposition 50. This is a tactical vote to counter the ultra-right billionaire attacks on wages, healthcare, and working conditions, while they cut taxes for the rich and fund war.
This current redistricting fight is a crucial battleground against Trump’s power grab and the racist gerrymandering seen in states like Texas, where the voting power of mostly Black and Latino voters would be eliminated. However, we recognize that partisan gerrymandering alone does nothing to increase political power for working people. Organizing and building an independent working class movement does.
In fact, Democrats like Governor Newsom are a major reason we are in this crisis. They failed to defend voting rights and passed policies that ignored the working class, creating the conditions for these attacks by the Trump administration. We cannot rely on either major party.
So, vote YES on Prop 50, then join the P&F as we work to contest every election in California. We are the only party building independent working-class power and fighting for real solutions. Let’s do more than stop Trump, let's build a socialist future!
Sheila Xiao is the Peace and Freedom Party South State organizer.
"Neither Way Promotes Democracy"
Proposition 50 will not stop growing authoritarianism. Keeping the current map does not safeguard electoral democracy. As long as the electoral system allows only the two dominant parties to win seats, the people without wealth in this country will not get representation.
As Texas and other states redistrict to replace Democrats, California Governor Newsom proposes a temporary map to replace Republicans in Congress. With the current U.S. regime becoming more authoritarian and destructive, unions and progressive groups are joining the Proposition 50 bandwagon.
The opponents point to the need to respect the Independent Redistricting Commission that was established through a popular vote. But the commission’s only purpose is to carve up the state more “fairly” between the Democrats and the Republicans. It does not create a system by which other parties can get elected in proportion to their vote.
The reckless pursuit of wealth by the U.S. plutocrats, spearheaded by Donald Trump and his Republican Party, must be stopped. But the Democrats, also a party of the rich, cannot put up an adequate fight because they don’t deliver what the people need. We need a party by and for the working class and proportional representation to gain power.
Marsha Feinland is a PFP State officer and has been a frequent candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party.
"Vote Yes but..."
The success or failure of Proposition 50 is almost entirely symbolic. Vote for it to prevent a symbolic “victory” for MAGA Republicans, but don’t expect it to stop them.
If it passes and helps enable a Democratic Party victory in the 2026 elections, Congress will still be closely divided, with at best narrow Democratic majorities in the Senate and the House. The Democrats wouldn’t be able to reverse Trump’s policies, with Senate filibusters, Trump vetoes and a right-wing Supreme Court to stop anything that passes in the House of Representatives.
Narrow Democratic majorities in Congress will give them control of committees and the power to investigate and subpoena witnesses and documents. However, the Trump administration will almost surely resist subpoenas, limiting what information will be revealed. And whatever scandals are revealed are unlikely to shame the Project 2025 cadre into resigning. They have no shame. They will lie and attack the media and investigators. Their political base, which while a minority is still substantial, will largely believe them.
What will stop Trump? I don’t have the answer, but it includes mass mobilization and civil resistance, plus determined struggle in courts and legislatures. Electoral game-playing has at best a tiny part.
Dave Kadlecek has served as the Peace and Freedom Party State Treasurer
"Competitive Gerrymandering Overthrows Democratic Principle"
An essential feature of democracy is being willing to lose for the sake of a fairer process. In my experience, most Americans do not believe in this feature. They invoke “democracy” only so far as it helps them win, or as a protest slogan when they lose. Prop-50 proves that this applies to Democrats with freeway signs as well as Republicans storming the Capitol.
I opposed the redistricting commission, because it diverted attention from the solution to gerrymandering – proportional representation – to instead keep re-drawing the lines. Prop-50 discards the pet conceit of that commission – that these lines will be drawn evenhandedly – because Democrats don’t want to lose.
You can’t throw out principle and achieve a fair process. You either win a Pyrrhic victory where you gain some ground, but you’ve forfeited your principle, or you lose anyway, and you sacrificed that principle for nothing. I’m reminded of the Bolsheviks – who, with their country invaded by foreign armies, had far greater justification – when they made other parties illegal. They couldn’t later go back to better democratic process. As necessary as it seemed, it was a mistake. So is Prop-50. It’s not for Democracy. As with January-6, it’s to win at any cost.
Cat Woods is a Peace and Freedom Party member and former Party Parliamentarian
"Leave it Blank"
Prop. 50 is a good opportunity to talk about proportional representation (PR). PR is the real answer to gerrymandering – and that’s not even its most important advantage. Implicit in the two-party duopoly’s urge to gerrymander as many districts as possible is a willful neglect of the fact that winner-take-all elections don’t produce truly representative legislatures. I hope other contributions to this symposium will elaborate on this point.
But this is also a good time to say that voters don’t have to vote Yes or No on every ballot measure or back a candidate for every office. They can abstain by submitting a ballot with Prop. 50 left blank. In California, the number of abstentions is not reported explicitly, but it is easy enough to figure out as the gap between overall turnout and total votes.
Prop. 50 is a fight between Republicans and Democrats. The rest of us shouldn’t take sides. If you think that voting Yes is part of the struggle against Trump’s authoritarianism, then the same logic dictates that you should vote for Democratic Party candidates as well. I’m not going there, so I plan to abstain on Prop. 50. I encourage you do likewise.
Bob Richard was a member of the PFP State Executive Committee and the party’s webmaster from 2010 to 2016.
"Vote YES, Then Build for Socialism"
California is on the frontlines of Trump’s ultra-right war on working people. The Ramsey Robinson for Governor campaign urges a YES vote on Proposition 50. This would counter ultra-right gerrymandering, like that in Texas, which disenfranchises Black and Latino voters and consolidates power for billionaires attacking wages, healthcare, and working conditions.
However, we cannot rely on the Democratic Party, whose failures on voting rights and working-class issues paved the way for Trump. The two-party system is broken.
Real solutions require proportional representation, banning big money from politics, and ending the two-party monopoly. Working people need their own party and socialist solutions.
Vote YES on Prop 50, then join the Peace and Freedom Party. We are the only party contesting every election with a platform for living wages, peace, and sustainability. Let’s do more than stop the right; let's build a socialist future for California.
Ramsey Robinson is the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for CA. Governor in 2026
