It’s not a good day when Newsom is celebrating. That usually means his radical agenda is winning.
And Gavin Newsom earned a huge victory that has Republicans sick to their stomaches.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s extravagant Prop 50 scheme sailed through on Tuesday, setting the stage for Democrats to snatch five key congressional seats in the 2026 midterms and tighten their grip on power.
The Associated Press declared the win at 8 p.m. California time, as soon as polls shut down, with over 64% of voters—that’s 4.4 million strong—backing the measure, while just 35% stood against it.
Standing alongside his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor didn’t hesitate to launch into a tirade against President Trump during his victory address.
“We’re proud of the work that the people of the state of California did tonight to send a powerful message to a historic president,” Newsom stated. “Donald Trump is a historic president. He is the most historically unpopular president in modern history.”
This Democrat-pushed initiative, rammed through by Newsom and his allies in the state Legislature, comes as a direct payback to Republican redistricting efforts in Texas that could add five seats for the GOP.
For California’s Republicans, already clinging to a measly nine out of 52 congressional seats, this spells disaster and could wipe out their hard-won ground.
The whole special election circus drew massive attention and backlash for its outrageous price tag—over $200 million dumped from taxpayer pockets—at a moment when the state grapples with massive economic woes.
Even with the steep cost, Newsom rallied his celebrity Democrat buddies to hype Prop 50 to California’s nearly 40 million residents.
Big names like former President Barack Obama and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez starred in ads, and former Vice President Kamala Harris jumped in too.
“Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years,” Obama stated in an ad. “You can stop Republicans in their tracks.”
On the flip side, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger blasted the proposition in a CNN chat with Jake Tapper, calling it a reckless escalation.
“Texas started it. They did something terribly wrong. And then all of a sudden, California says, ‘Well, then we have to do something terribly wrong.’ And then now other states are jumping in.”
Schwarzenegger warned that Prop 50 would “take the power away from the people.”
With the vote sealed, control over drawing electoral maps shifts straight to the California Legislature, sidelining the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission until after the U.S. Census in 2030.
These fresh boundaries aim to squeeze out conservative strongholds in the state’s northern and southern regions, while carving up cities and counties into three or more districts instead of the usual two.
Critics hammer the plan for potentially shortchanging minority communities in representation, though a review from the Public Policy Institute of California claims the new setup won’t harm minority voting power.
This redistricting ploy could hand Democrats the edge to flip seats in the 2026 midterms, where they only need three more to seize the House and derail President Trump’s agenda.
For Newsom, this triumph boosts his profile as he squares off against Trump, fueling buzz about his ambitions for a 2028 White House run.
