Jim Deboo, a senior advisor with Yes on 50, said he does not believe Democrats have a shot at taking back the House of Representatives in 2026 if Proposition 50 is not approved on November 4.
Proposition 50 would implement a new congressional map in California to counter Texas’s mid-decade redistricting, which gives Republicans an advantage in five currently Democratic seats, where they are now favored to win.
Deboo, who is also the former chief of staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom and a fellow this semester at the Center for the Political Future at USC, said this is the first time ever that California voters will be able to vote on congressional district lines.
“We’re asking California voters to give us the opportunity to create checks and balances, the opportunity to try to take back the house in 2026, temporarily giving the redistricting commission back their authority in 2030,” Deboo said. “The legislature has already drawn these maps and we’re asking voters to approve these lines until that 2030 [census] occurs.”
California has had an independent commission redraw congressional lines since 2010 when voters passed Proposition 20. The measure passed with 61% in favor and 39% against.
Proposition 50 would redraw the lines to favor Democrats until the next census is taken in 2030 and the independent redistricting commission draws new lines for the whole state.
The new map itself would create a new seat in Los Angeles in a historically Latino area that was previously eliminated by the redistricting commission, according to Deboo.
It also “takes four swing seats … and it fortifies them as pretty safe democratic seats and then it creates five opportunities for new seats that Democrats would have an opportunity in the election to try to move from R to D,” Deboo said.
Responding to how he would counter voter’s concerns who disagree with Texas’s mid-decade redistricting but do not think California should do the same, Deboo said that the state “has always led the way in trying to do the right thing.”
Deboo argued that regardless of whether California redistricts, Republican states are passing maps that will benefit their chances of keeping the House of Representatives.
“The unfortunate part of this is the other side, they don’t play by those rules and it’s not just Texas, it’s Florida, it’s Indiana, it’s Ohio, it’s Utah,” he said. “So if we continue to play by the same rules — or want to play by the rules that make us the moral compass choice – we’re seeding completely the country.”
President Donald Trump asked Texas Governor Greg Abbott in July to redraw the lines claiming that Republicans are “entitled to five more seats.” The Texas State Assembly passed the new map 88-52 on August 20 followed by the Texas State Senate on August 23 in an 18-11 vote. Abbott signed the new map into law on August 29.
President Trump is also pushing for redistricting in several other states including Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina. The North Carolina House of Representatives passed a new map on October 22 that solidifies an additional Republican district that is currently represented by a Democrat.
Deboo said that the ballot measure gives Democrats a fair chance to take back the House of Representatives adding that if the Democrats did take back the House they could hold oversight hearings and hold the administration accountable.
“Right now, the President has unfettered power, and it’s clear that that’s not going to stop unless somebody steps in and creates the checks and balances, which is how a democratic society was created,” Deboo said.
Deboo urged voters to vote early and expressed concerns over voter intimidation.
“We’re worried that ICE and border patrol are going to start coming out to vote centers,” he said.
Election Day is November 4, 2025. Early in-person voting sites are open between October 25 and November 3. All California voters are also eligible to vote by mail.