Yesterday’s election closed a big win for Prop. 50. The passage of this proposition will reconfigure the state’s congressional districts in favor of Democrats, shifting five more House districts into competitive or easily winnable territory for Democrats.
Currently, California has 43 Democrats and nine Republicans in the House.
It was expensive; according to CalMatters, supporters poured more than $120 million into Newsom’s committee supporting the measure. Opponents raised just $44 million. Outside groups spent $27 million to try to sway the vote.
About 7 million Californians had already voted by Election Day, 4.6 million of whom put their ballots in the mail. Another 2.3 million put a ballot they received in the mail at a ballot drop-off box or at an elections office.
For more than a decade, the majority of voters in California elections have participated by mail.
Votes were so overwhelming, victory was declared less than an hour after polls closed. YES votes were more than 60%, with 5,154,529 Californians in favor. NO voters numbered 2,927,923, coming in at just over 35%.
Judith Martin-Straw
