Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the creation of an independent commission to draw California’s congressional districts, returned to state voters’ TV sets on Tuesday in a new ad opposing a November ballot measure by state Democrats to boost their party’s ranks in Congress.
A committee opposing Proposition 50, which would replace districts drawn by an independent commission with ones crafted by partisans, plans to spend $1 million per day airing the ad statewide. Schwarzenegger describes the ballot measure as one that does not favor voters but is in the interest of entrenched politicians.
“That’s what they want to do, is take us backwards. This is why it is important for you to vote no on Proposition 50,” the Hollywood celebrity and former governor says in the ad, which was filmed last week when he spoke to USC students. “The Constitution does not start with ‘We, the politicians.’ It starts with ‘We, the people.’ … Democracy — we’ve got to protect it, and we’ve got to go and fight for it.”
A USC official sent a letter to the campaign’s lawyer saying the university had not given permission for a camera crew to film Schwarzenegger’s remarks for an ad.
“The event was intended to be an inspiring discussion about Gov. Schwarzenegger’s remarkable life, his public service and the importance of democracy,” Michael Blanton, vice president of USC’s office of professionalism and ethics, wrote to attorney Steven S. Lucas. “USC is neutral on Proposition 50 and intends to remain neutral.”
The university did not give permission for the use of its name or logos for campaign purposes, nor did USC interim President Beong-Soo Kim, who interviewed Schwarzenegger at the event, give permission for the use of his name or image, Blanton wrote.
The campaign supporting Proposition 50 countered by releasing an ad on Tuesday featuring Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
“California, you know, we don’t back down from a fight, and this November, the fight belongs to you,” the liberal firebrand says in the ad. “Donald Trump is redrawing election maps to force through a Congress that only answers to him, not the people. If he gets away with it, all bets are off for our healthcare, our paychecks and our freedoms. With Prop. 50, we can stop him.”
Redistricting is the redrawing of congressional boundaries that typically occurs once a decade following the U.S. census to account for population shifts. The process rarely attracts the attention it has this year because of a heated battle to determine control of a closely divided Congress in the final two years of President Trump’s tenure.
After Trump urged Texas and other GOP-led states to redraw their congressional districts earlier this year to boost the number of Republicans in the House, California Democrats, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, countered by putting a rare mid-decade redistricting on a special-election November ballot that would likely boost the number of Democrats in the body.
Schwarzenegger, long a champion of political reform, is not part of any official Proposition 50 campaign. Since leaving office, he has prioritized good governance at his institute at USC and campaigned for independent redistricting across the nation.
The ad is being aired by the most well-funded effort opposing Proposition 50, one that is bankrolled by Charles Munger Jr., a major GOP donor who underwrote the ballot measures that created California’s independent commission.
Munger has already donated $30 million to a campaign opposing the November ballot measure, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the secretary of state’s office. The other large opposition effort has raised more than $5 million.
The main group supporting Proposition 50, led by Newsom, has raised more than $54 million.
These fundraising figures are based on required disclosures of large contributions. More complete fundraising numbers must be filed with the state Thursday.
