Why Should Rural California Be Thrown Under the Bus?

Why should rural California be thrown under the bus to compensate for other states’ political games? That is the central question Proposition 50 forces us to confront. Supporters argue that California must redraw its congressional maps mid-decade as a response to gerrymanders in states like Texas and Florida. But sacrificing fairness and representation here at home to fight someone else’s political battles is not leadership, it’s abandoning rural representation. California shouldn’t punish its own voters just to make a point in a national partisan tug-of-war.

Already, Republicans in California are underrepresented. They make up roughly 25% of registered voters statewide, yet they hold just 9 of California’s 52 congressional seats, about 17%. Even under the current districting plan, competitive districts are few and far between, and Republican and moderate voices are not fully reflected. Proposition 50 would push that imbalance even further, erasing what’s left of competitive districts and cementing single-party dominance, and doing so for reasons tied more to national political advantage than the interests of Californians themselves.

This should alarm Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike. Healthy governments require accountability, transparency, and meaningful opportunities for citizens to have their voices heard, not merely to endorse predetermined outcomes. If Californians vote to silence a quarter of their own electorate, we send a message that fairness only matters when it benefits the majority party. That is not the California example we should be setting.

California is not just a major economic player; it is the nation's agricultural powerhouse. We are the world’s fourth-largest economy, and what we do matters far beyond our borders. Nearly half of the vegetables and over three-quarters of the fruits and nuts grown in the United States come from California. In 2022, California’s agricultural sector generated over $59 billion in sales, making it the top agricultural producer in the nation. This immense output supports not only our state’s economy but also contributes significantly to global food security. Without strong representation, policies, from water rights to insurance costs, risk failing the rural communities that sustain California’s critical role in feeding the nation and the world.

Governor Gavin Newsom has chosen a different path. Instead of focusing on fixing California’s real crises; housing affordability, homelessness, wildfire resilience, water scarcity, and broken infrastructure, he is focused on tilting maps in ways that benefit his presidential ambitions. Californians don’t need more political chess moves. We need solutions to the issues that affect our daily lives.

Just look at the record. Billions have been spent on homelessness programs, yet the problem continues to grow worse in our cities. Housing remains unaffordable, pushing young families out of the state. The vaunted high-speed rail has burned through billions of dollars while delivering little more than excuses. These failures are not abstract policy missteps, they are broken promises that leave Californians paying higher costs and getting less in return. Now we are told that drawing new political lines is a priority. It is not.

The consequences of weakened rural representation are especially dire. Here in Nevada County, we know this firsthand. The county’s agricultural department just released its annual report showing encouraging signs of growth in local farming. That growth supports farmers’ markets, strengthens food security, and ensures that we can source more of what we eat locally. But farming faces unique pressures: rising electricity costs, soaring insurance premiums, raw water rights battles, and wildfire risk. These are not the daily realities of dense urban centers, but they are central to the survival of rural communities.

If rural representation is diluted further, who will fight to keep family farms viable? Who will ensure that water allocation decisions don’t favor cities at the expense of agriculture? Who will make sure that insurance markets remain accessible in wildfire-prone areas rather than abandoning homeowners altogether? These are not partisan questions, they are questions of survival for entire communities.

The divide between urban and rural is stark. Roughly 95% of Californians live in urban or densely populated areas, yet those areas occupy less than 6% of the state’s land. The other 80% of California’s land is rural. But land doesn’t get a vote, people do, and under Proposition 50, the people who live in rural California risk losing the voice they still have. If competitive districts vanish, so do the voices of farmers, ranchers, small business owners, and working families who live outside the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

This is not about Republicans versus Democrats. This is about whether California will protect its own integrity or allow itself to become a pawn in national partisan warfare. If we want to lead the nation, let’s do it by strengthening our economy, solving homelessness, improving education, and keeping families safe from fire and drought. That is how California can set an example for the rest of the world as a strong, fair, and responsible republic.

Proposition 50 does the opposite. It erodes trust, undermines fairness, and tells one in four Californians that their voices don’t matter. That is not who we are, and it is not who we should become.

On November’s ballot, we have a choice. We can allow national political games to dictate how California governs itself, or we can stand up for fairness, representation, and integrity. For the sake of our county, for the sake of our rural communities, and for the sake of California’s future, the answer must be clear.

Please Vote No on Proposition 50.