Editorial fuels discourse, and is no help to voters

Appeared in Gold Country Media Publications on August 27, 2025

https://goldcountrymedia.com/news/336972/editorial-fuels-discourse-and-is-no-help-to-voters/

GUEST EDITORIAL

Editorial fuels discourse, and is no help to voters

Neva Parker

Aug 27, 2025 10:30 AM

I was deeply disappointed in Supervisor Bonnie Gore’s guest editorial (“Keep Placer County’s voice; stop governor’s power grab”) on Aug. 22, 2025.

Not because she expressed her opposition to Proposition 50, the mid-decade redistricting measure appearing on the ballot in November but because of how she expressed her opposition. Rather than trust voters with facts, she opted for generalized statements that don’t do much to help voters in November but do add fuel to discourse that is destroying what little trust people have in California’s government already.

So, here are some facts:

First, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8, now Proposition 50, does not dismantle our redistricting process in California, as the supervisor claims. Prop. 50 does, however, ask voters to decide if the section pertaining to the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission in the state Constitution should be amended to substitute new Congressional maps through the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections only. According to Section 4(d) of the amendment, the redistricting commission retains its authority to redraw maps now and into the future.

Second, Supervisor Gore writes that what’s happening in Texas is the result of a “legal process” but doesn’t describe what that “legal process” is.

In 2021, under the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Texas, challenging the state’s Congressional maps for discriminating against Black and Latino voters. But the DOJ, under the Trump Administration, withdrew from the case in the spring of this year. The case is still ongoing despite the DOJ’s withdrawal.

In July of this year, the DOJ sent a letter informing Texas they were in violation of the Voting Rights Act. But instead of arguing like Biden’s DOJ that the maps were discriminatory to Black and Latino neighborhoods, this letter argued that the maps improperly combined Black and Latino neighborhoods. I believe the lawsuit, along with the letter from the DOJ, is the “legal process” Supervisor Gore writes about.

In any event, when a reporter asked President Trump, “In Texas, how many more seats do you want the Republicans to draw?” He answered, “Five.” Texas lawmakers, who had been fighting against redistricting, have now redrawn new maps that create exactly five new Republican seats. If approved, these maps would significantly weaken Democrat voter representation in Texas while doing little to fix the Voting Rights Act concerns that started the lawsuit in the first place.

Third, Supervisor Gore declares as “a simple truth” that Placer County will lose its independence and become dependent on Sacramento if these maps are adopted. How? These maps are Congressional maps. Not Board of Equalization, Assembly or State Senate maps. More importantly, as I noted earlier, the ballot measure expressly says redistricting remains with the commission. The maps presented to us in November are temporary and go into effect only if voters pass them.

One last fact (and an opinion) to consider that was not addressed by Supervisor Gore. Congressman Kevin Kiley introduced HR 4889 to prohibit mid-decade redistricting, and Assembly Republicans introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 21 asking Congress to pass a Constitutional Amendment that would require every state to use independent redistricting. Both are good ideas, and I support them. However, it took the threat of losing power to make them do what their party has consistently voted against. Any pretense that this is for democracy or that they’re fighting for fairness seems hollow to me because of it.

Finally, I support Prop. 50 because the Trump Administration has chosen to deliver on the promises they made to the American people in the cruelest ways possible. Americans

deserve better than that. And if California can even the playing field so that we stop elevating people who support that cruelty, then I think we should do it.

Voters have a big decision to make in November, and we need facts. But when elected officials we trust to help us through these moments choose to be reactionary and self-serving, well, we deserve better than that, too.

Neva Parker is a former legislative clerk with the State Senate and Assembly, and current candidate for California State Assembly District 5.