CFRW CAPITOL UPDATE – October 31, 2025

Now going into Prop 50, I do not think the redistricting hearings in the Legislature are being talked about enough, notably the Assembly Elections Committee, where we only hold 2 Republican seats.
We watched the Democrats blatantly break the law.
They refused to hear or put into the record over 16,000 public comments.
Democrats were given access to the bill language before Republicans.
Members admitted they do not read the bills before voting.
They stated openly that the purpose was to eliminate Republicans.
They refused to disclose who drew the redistricting maps,
Turned off Republicans’ microphones when they were speaking, and forced a vote.
When challenged, they justified breaking procedure by saying that “others did it before” and that “times are different now,” as if that excused ignoring established law.
And this rhetoric about Texas is completely misleading. Texas is redistricting within the law and under multiple ongoing Voting Rights Act lawsuits. Meanwhile, what California is doing is blatant lawbreaking. The state legislature not only violated the California Constitution by drawing and passing maps themselves — a process that’s supposed to be handled by an independent citizens’ commission — but they’ve openly admitted their goal is to eliminate another political party from representation.
In a republic, the Constitution was designed to limit government power, not to serve majority interests. The Bill of Rights and the 14th and 15th Amendments protect individual and minority rights from the tyranny of the majority. Even when a policy is framed as “the people’s will,” as with Proposition 50, it doesn’t make it constitutional. A 51% vote doesn’t make it right — and it certainly doesn’t make it lawful.
Now, the Supreme Court is considering a major redistricting case, Louisiana v. Callais, which could fundamentally change Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The Court is being asked to decide whether drawing maps based on race, even to protect minority voting power, is unconstitutional. This matters because it will determine whether race can be used to draw maps. This was the reason for a lot of the lawsuits from the originally drawn Texas 2021 maps. The Court hasn’t announced a decision timeline, but analysts expect the case could be decided by next June.
The Framers of the Constitution never intended for political lines to be drawn by race — their goal was to ensure every citizen’s voice counts equally, regardless of color or creed. Assuming that people of a certain race will vote one way is itself a form of racism and runs counter to both the Equal Protection Clause and the principle of individual liberty.
So while Texas operates under the scrutiny of current federal law, California is disregarding both state and constitutional safeguards to consolidate political power. This is the very majority tyranny the Constitution was written to prevent.
A recent visit to the Placer County Clerk-Recorder’s office provided an in-depth look at how the upcoming election is being managed under a very compressed timeline. The county team is responsible for completing 500 required election tasks, and more than 100 had to be completed within just a few days. According to Clerk-Recorder Ryan Ronco, who has worked in elections since 1992, the pace and pressure of this cycle are unprecedented.
Due to the shortened preparation period, only a limited number of in-person voting locations could be secured. Voters are strongly encouraged to cast their ballots in person to support staff in managing and processing ballots efficiently. Mail-in ballots face an increased risk of delayed delivery, particularly in rural counties that often lack the staffing and resources to conduct elections under such tight deadlines. After Election Day, counties will have just 15 days to certify results before beginning voter registration processes for district elections in December ahead of the midterms.
Additionally, recent speculation about Placer County shifting politically toward the center and turning “Purple” has been refuted by data. In 2022, registered Republicans held an 8% lead over Democrats; as of 2025, that lead has expanded to 10%. This trend reflects a broader movement across multiple counties in California, signaling growing momentum for conservative representation statewide.
As of this October 27th, the total ballots mailed out by party were:

Of those ballots, this is the current amount that has been returned:

Now we know that the majority of in-person election day votes tends to be Republicans, and a lot of those with No Party Preference will be voting No. Special elections tend to only have about a 30% turnout, but we are hoping to make this at least a 50% turnout or more. We need to turn out bigger than any special election in history.