ESCONDIDO, California — Maria Garcia looked like a one-woman army on the corner of Citracado Parkway and Escondido Boulevard Thursday night. Dressed in light blue jeans, bright pink boots, and a black California hat, she carried a no-frills, makeshift sign that simply read: “November- 4th. NO ON 50.”
She was definitely outnumbered.
Around her was a much larger group of activists. One was dressed in a cheerleader outfit. Another like a chicken. One woman was in the street screaming at cars in English and Spanish, urging them to vote yes on Proposition 50, a controversial redistricting ballot measure that would redraw California‘s congressional lines to give Democrats a likely five-seat boost in Congress.
Garcia outlasted them all.
She stood on the corner for more than an hour, well after the sun went down, holding up her sign.
“I know what’s at stake,” she told the Washington Examiner. “I know about Newsom and what he’s trying to do.”
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Her husband, Kerry Sheron, a veteran and proud MAGA member who plastered his yard with 50 American flags, was across the street at the Elks Lodge. He, and about 100 others, had filed into the one-story building to hear Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-CA) “wax on” about the importance of Tuesday’s election.
DeMaio, a conservative talk-radio host and former San Diego City Councilman, told the group, which consisted mostly of retirees, that they were tasked with keeping California’s elections fair. He gave them a tiny tutorial on how to use a smartphone, bashed the legacy media, and told them to write to people letters about voting against Proposition 50 and for his statewide voter ID initiative, describing it as the “wax on, wax off” moment of the year, a reference to the movie The Karate Kid.
DeMaio told the group gathered that they should also target Democrats or Independents who signed the voter ID petition. He referred to them as part of the “squishy vote on 50.”
“These people are fair people because they want voter ID but they hate [President Donald] Trump and that is why they are voting yes on 50,” he said. “They support the citizen’s redistricting commission but they are voting yes on 50 because they really hate Trump. In their mind, they are saying the ends justify the means. Never underestimate the capacity of a good person to do an evil act because they convinced themselves, yes, it’s bad, but there’s a reason. I get a pass on this one.”
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He instructed those gathered on how to approach the so-called squishy voters.
“When you ask them, ‘Have you returned your ballot and voted no on 50?’ they’ll say ‘I’m voting yes’ to which I want you to say to them, ‘I respect you, your opinion, and I am assuming you don’t like Trump and you think this is a good way to stop him but recognize you do realize that Prop 50 is rigging an election. You’re doing what you’re accusing Trump of doing.’”
DeMaio believes Proposition 50 can be beaten if there is a strong Republican turnout on Tuesday. Others aren’t so sure.
California’s Proposition 50 was triggered in response to Trump telling Texas legislators to change the state’s map to give Republicans a five-seat advantage in next year’s midterm elections. Since then, other GOP-led states, including Missouri, North Carolina, and Utah, have followed suit. There are a handful of others that have either started the process or indicated they were looking into redrawing their maps.
Unlike Texas, where state lawmakers have control over drawing the state’s congressional map, California’s constitution requires that an independent redistricting commission draw the map and that voters approve any changes. That means even though the state legislature passed the proposed map earlier this year, voters will decide whether it will be used for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections.
If voters greenlight it, it would put three Republican-held seats into safe Democratic hands and turn two others into those that lean Democratic. Specifically, the map would change districts held by Reps. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) in Northern California. In Southern California, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Ken Calvert (R-CA) would be at risk, and in the Central Valley, Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) would have a much harder time getting reelected if the map is passed.
None of the polls heading into Nov. 4’s special election have Republicans walking away with a significant win. Most have Proposition 50 passing by a wide margin.
That’s bad news for Republicans but good for Pam Albergo, a local organizer with Indivisible North County San Diego. Albergo was part of the group waving “Yes on Prop 50” signs in Escondido. She has also shown up with a group of protestors every week since February to Issa’s Escondido office. On Friday morning, they came in costumes.
Albergo told the Washington Examiner the difference between what’s unfolding in California and what’s taking place in Texas is that voters, not the legislature, will decide whether to accept the new maps.
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She’s confident that they will.
“I don’t think Prop 50 will fail,” she said. “I’m feeling pretty hopeful and we are getting the word out.”
