8 responses to “Political Theater: 50 ways to leave your voter”

1. Joe

   August 29, 2025

   The news coverage of the spending battle has begun. Here’s the Merc’s first take:
   So far, the Yes on Prop. 50 campaign has raised more than $12 million in large donations since mid-July, campaign finance filings show. A spokesperson for the committee, Hannah Milgrom, said it has raked in another $12 million in small donations from about 400,000 people. Those donations aren’t yet reflected in filings.
   On the other side, two separate campaigns led by Republicans will try to thwart the
   Democrats. So far, the better-funded of the two is Munger’s committee. Munger is a physicist and the son of a billionaire Berkshire Hathaway executive. He played a key role in the establishment of California’s independent redistricting commission more than a decade ago. This week, Munger dumped more than $10 million into a political committee and had already begun papering the homes of voters throughout the state with anti-gerrymandering mailers.
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   Notice the spin verbiage. One side “raised large donations” without identifying any of them. The other side saw a rich guy “dump $10 mil” in.

2. Phinancier

   August 30, 2025

   Never fear. The CTA and the public employee unions will be pumping in big money to push 50. It’s a vicious cycle.

3. Joe

   September 29, 2025

   From the Orange County Register:

   More than three dozen county sheriffs — including the ones from Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — have signed onto a letter opposing Proposition 50, the mid-decade congressional redistricting ballot measure that Californians will be voting on as part of a special election called by state Democratic leaders.

   In the open letter, 37 county sheriffs said a mid-cycle redistricting effort, in which the proposed congressional maps were redrawn behind closed doors as part of a partisan effort to advantage California Democrats in the 2026 congressional elections, not only would undermine the will of voters, but also would erode public trust in government. They said the effort “disenfranchises” voters.

   “As elected county sheriffs, we know that our system of government depends upon public trust. That trust is built through transparency, fairness, and adherence to the rule of law,” the letter said. “Conversely, trust is undermined when public officials take actions designed to enhance their own power at the expense of the people’s will.”

4. Joe

   October 15, 2025

   Our $300 million one-question got a couple million dollars more expensive. The Secretary of State had to send out a notice that the Voter Guide messed up the location of Districts 27 down in LA on the map. But the postcard does offer a handy way to remember how fabulously ridiculous the District boundaries are or will be. Check out the little dingle ball hanging on the south end of D22.

   D3 around Tahoe which Newsom would dearly love to clear of his most capable critic, looks like the profile of a hawk eating his prey with the beak jutting into Sacramento.

   D2 gets an elephant trunk like profile down the coast. The whole thing makes us look like a horse’s (donkey’s?) ass.

5. Bruce Dickinson

   October 20, 2025

   The only way to save democracy is by destroying it! And people wonder why California has a reputation of being run by a bunch of crazies. That reputation is EARNED!

6. Paloma Ave

   October 21, 2025

   Holy smokes! Holy and Bruce are back!

7. Phinancier

   October 22, 2025

   I just read that Princeton grades district maps and gave this one an F. So there’s that.

8. Joe

   November 2, 2025

   In another rare bit of insight from the Sunday Comicle “Insight” section, the editors let a couple of Berkeley Law school staffers deliver some actual insights. The title was titillating enough: How an upcoming Supreme Court ruling could wipe out a Prop 50 victory. But the beef was that the Prop 50 proponents don’t even care if the whole charade gets overruled. Why? You know why-$$$$$$. Here are the $nippet$:

   So, why are proponents raising and spending $140 million (Prop 50 is already the seventh most expensive ballot measure ever) in a campaign that’s projected to cost state taxpayers around $284 million when the prospects are so dicey?

   Maybe because it doesn’t matter to those behind Prop 50 what happens to the measure or the map.

   Look at the money: So far, the Yes on Prop 50 side is raising far more than the no campaign, with no limit on contributions to the ballot measure committees — including those controlled by a candidate. For any cash left in the coffers of yes campaigns after next month’s vote, California Fair Political Practices Commission (Manual 3, Chapter 12) rules say that surplus funds can be contributed “to another ballot measure committee, to a candidate committee, or to a political party.”

   That allows candidates to raise unlimited funds for Prop 50 and then use any surplus for their campaigns.

   For the politicians raising money to support Prop 50, it may not matter if the measure wins or loses or is thrown out in court. They stand to gain regardless.

   David A. Carrillo is executive director and Stephen M. Duvernay is a senior research fellow at UC Berkeley School of Law’s California Constitution Center. The authors take no pro/con position on Proposition 50. Duvernay filed an amicus brief in support of the appellees in Callais.
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   There you have it. Raise boatloads of what used to be called “dark money”. Buy some expensive ads during NFL and World Series games to appear to be spending $$$ and the rest goes back into the pot for future campaigns that have contribution limits. Rare insight from EssEff. Let’s see if Carillo and Duvernay ever get to write another Comicle piece.