Prop. 50 map criticized for splitting Sacramento communities

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CRITICS: PROP. 50 WOULD DILUTE VOTING POWER OF COMMUNITIES OF COLOR IN SAC

Via Nicole Nixon...

The congressional map proposed under Prop. 50 would split up communities of color around the state and dilute their voting power, opponents of the gerrymandering measure argued in a report released Wednesday.

The Voting Rights Act includes specific protections for majority-minority communities to ensure their voters have a fair chance to elect a candidate of their choice.

“Our communities are going to lose voice while politicians gain insulation,” if Prop. 50 passes, said Carah Ong Whaley, executive director of the good government group Better Choices for Democracy.

In the Sacramento area, the state’s independent redistricting commission has typically grouped Asian communities in Elk Grove and Sacramento’s Pocket, Florin and Lemon Hill neighborhoods together. The Prop. 50 map would cut through the suburbs south of Sacramento’s urban core and put Florin in a district that sweeps northeast to include Folsom and Lake Tahoe. Pocket and Elk Grove would be in a district stretching east to the Sierra foothills.

The bulk of Sacramento County is represented by two Asian American members of Congress: Democratic Reps. Doris Matsui and Ami Bera.

“This shift places an urban Asian immigrant community inside a largely rural, mountain-based district with vastly different priorities such as tourism and water rights,” the report, put out by the No on Prop. 50 campaign, reads. “The result is a severe dilution of political voice for one of the Sacramento region’s fastest-growing Asian populations and a direct violation of the principle of keeping communities of interest intact.”

Similarly, Black communities in Florin and Oak Park would be split from those in Meadowview and Valley Hi/North Laguna.

“This fragmentation fractures a long-standing, cohesive Black voice and undermines fair representation of Sacramento’s Black neighborhoods,” the report reads.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Prop. 50, which would redraw California’s congressional districts before the 2030 census to help Democrats pick up five additional seats, to counter a similar move by Republicans in Texas and other states. California voters will make the final decision on the map in a Nov. 4 special election.

A $23B SCIENCE LIFELINE

A bill introduced at the end of the legislative session could be California’s answer to President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal research spending.

Senate Bill 607, authored by Democratic heavyweight state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would authorize $23 billion in bonds for scientific research in the state. But first lawmakers, then voters, would have to approve it.

“We are already a leader in science, and we should double and triple down on that leadership and make California the absolute global epicenter of scientific research and discovery,” Wiener said during a virtual news briefing Wednesday morning.

The lawmaker was joined by researchers who spoke about the effects of ongoing disruptions to federally funded grants. The UC Office of the President has estimated it would need between $4 billion and $5 billion annually “to sustain reduced core operations and research,” if the UC loses federal funding.

“With the status quo, I’m feeling really uncertain about my future as a scientist in this country, and I know many of my colleagues feel this sentiment as well,” said Elaine Huang, a graduate student at UCLA who conducts Alzheimer’s research.

Wiener’s new bill is a reprisal of an earlier attempt to save scientific research in the state. Senate Bill 829, which would have established the California Institute for Scientific Research, stalled in Senate Appropriations after no funding source was put forward for it.

If passed by lawmakers in 2026, voters would get to weigh in on the question during the November election. Wiener said he wanted to get the legislative ball rolling early to work through any disagreements.

“I don’t think it’s an option for us to do nothing,” he said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We fight and we pray for the country to do the right thing. And you know, to have a president-elect in 2028 who is not a psychopath.”

— State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in response to a question about the utility of a scientific grant-giving body, should a Democrat take the presidency in 2028.

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This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 4:55 AM.