Newsom’s Prop 50 campaign heats up with new ads targeting California voters
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert. I’m Amelia Wu, the Bee’s state worker intern.
PROP. 50 CAMPAIGN BLITZ BEGINS
Via Lia Russell…
The race to persuade California voters whether to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries began in earnest Tuesday, as camps on both sides of the issue began rolling out ads.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Yes on Prop. 50 campaign dropped two ads for TV and digital platforms on Tuesday. They tie the contest to President Donald Trump, calling him a “dictator” who has strong-armed universities, quashed public dissent and now wants to “rig elections” after asking Texas to redistrict so that the GOP can widen its slim House majority in the 2026 midterms.
One ad features Citizen Redistricting Commission member Sara Sadhwani, who called Trump’s redistricting demand “an emergency for our democracy,” while stressing that Prop. 50’s in-kind response is “temporary” and only lasts through 2030.
The “Election Rigging Response Act” campaign is set to drop 9 ads over the next week, and has tapped support from organized labor, the California Teachers Association, and the House Majority PAC, and celebrity donors such as Danny DeVito, Tony Kushner, and Netflix executive Reed Hastings. Contributions to state ballot campaigns are unlimited, and experts estimate that the Prop. 50 contest could cost over $200 million.
Republican donor Charles Munger’s Protect Voters First coalition dropped an opposing ad that called Newsom’s redistricting effort a “threat” to the commission, which redraws districts every 10 years after a Census count. Munger was the chief backer of the 2008 initiative that established the commission.
The “No on Prop. 50” camp has split: Munger has positioned himself as a good governance advocate trying to preserve the commission’s bipartisan spirit, while a competing effort led by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and former California GOP chair Jessica Millan Patterson is trying to depict Newsom as an opportunist angling for higher office in 2028. A
CHALLENGER FOR DISTRICT 7
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang took a step toward a potential congressional bid — a move that could challenge longtime incumbent Rep. Doris Matsui.
Vang officially filed paperwork to run for Congress Tuesday, according to Fox40. The SacBee’s Marcos Bretón wrote in an Aug. 29 editorial that Vang is expected to announce her candidacy this month. While she has yet to make a formal announcement, her potential candidacy sets the stage for a primary election in California’s 7th Congressional District.
A former community organizer and cofounder of Hmong Innovating Politics, Vang is known for her advocacy for public health and minority-owned businesses. She was elected to Sacramento City Council in Nov. 2020.
The potential challenge from Vang comes as Congresswoman Matsui, who has represented Sacramento since 2005, solidified endorsements from three regional mayors including Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero.
“I am honored to have the endorsements of leaders I work closely with across the region,” Matsui wrote in an X post.
BONTA ON TRUMP’S ILLEGAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
California Attorney General Rob Bonta held a virtual press conference following Justice Breyer’s ruling that President Donald Trump‘s deployment of military force was a violation of federal law.
The ruling, made public on Tuesday, stated that the 700 U.S. Marines and 4,000 National Guard soldiers violated the Posse Comitatus Act, a law prohibiting the military from acting as domestic police.
“Today’s ruling affirms that President Trump is not King, and the power of the executive is not boundless,” Bonta said in a press release.
Judge Charles Breyer wrote in his decision that the Trump administration is blocked from using the military for “arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants, unless and until” further action is taken.
The District Court’s order is scheduled to take effect on Sept. 12, which is also the deadline for the Trump administration to respond. At the press conference, Bonta said he anticipates the Trump administration will appeal Breyer’s decision.
From an Aug. 5 order, 300 members of California’s National Guard are present in Lost Angeles for an additional 90 days. The attorney general and Gov. Gavin Newsom asked a court to block this order on Tuesday.
“This order has teeth and force. It must be complied with, and we are not at a point where the order is not being complied with, it’s just been issued,” Bonta said during the press conference.
“It’s clear what is prohibited. It is consistent with the law. If the Trump administration disagrees with it, they can do what is an appropriate thing to do, appeal and see if they get a decision that supports their decision.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This was never about safety. It was about creating a militarized national police force with the President as its chief.”
— California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, in an X post.
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This story was originally published September 3, 2025 at 4:55 AM with the headline "Newsom’s Prop 50 campaign heats up with new ads targeting California voters."
