More than half of California voters back Newsom redistricting plan: Poll

More than half of California voters say they support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) redistricting plan, an Emerson College Polling survey released Friday found.

According to the poll, 51 percent of California voters said they would support Proposition 50, the ballot measure that proposes allowing the state Legislature to bypass the independent redistricting commission, if the special election were held today. 

Thirty-four percent said they would not support the measure, while 15 percent said they were undecided. 

Newsom and California Democrats have pushed ahead with redistricting as Republicans in Missouri and Texas have passed redrawn congressional maps that aim to give Republicans more seats in next year’s midterm elections. 

Other recent polls have also shown broad support for Newsom’s plan. A poll released last month by the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) found that 48 percent of voters surveyed said they would support the plan, while 32 percent said they would vote against it. 

Newsom, who has emerged as the top Democratic voice in the nationwide redistricting battle, also has seen an uptick in his approval rating. According to the Emerson poll, 46 percent of California voters said they approved of the job Newsom was doing as governor, up from 44 percent last month. 

“Among voters who plan to vote in favor of Proposition 50, 74% approve of the job Governor Newsom is doing in office,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Of those who oppose the measure, 82% disapprove of the job Newsom is doing.”

There has been public opposition from the push, including from former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who championed the independent commission when he was governor in 2008. 

During a discussion at the University of Southern California this week, Schwarzenegger warned that Democratic leaders should not “become Trump” in their effort to push back on Republicans on redistricting. 

 “I mean, two bad behaviors don’t make a right behavior. Two wrongs don’t make a right,” the former governor said. 

The same Emerson College poll released Friday found that Schwarzenegger’s opposition “makes no difference” to 66 percent of the state’s voters, while 22 percent said it makes them more likely to support the measure. Another 12 percent said it makes them less likely to support the measure. 

The Emerson College poll was conducted Sept. 15-16 among 1,000 active registered voters in California. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.