California’s Prop 50 Polling Leaves Fox News Anchor Stunned as Democrats Cement Control Over Redistricting
Fox News anchor Sandra Smith appeared visibly baffled by new polling data out of California after voters approved Proposition 50, a controversial measure allowing the Democrat-controlled state legislature to override the state’s independent redistricting commission and draw congressional lines in its own favor.
During a Friday broadcast segment, Smith highlighted results from a Fox News poll showing that 82 percent of “Yes” voters supported the measure to counter redistricting reforms in Republican-led states. Meanwhile, 64 percent of those who voted “No” opposed it because they believed it was not the right way to redraw district lines.
But the statistic that truly shocked Smith came next.
“We asked the voters how they would actually like to see these lines drawn… The irony of this…is that nine-out-of-ten voters – even more so – said they’d like to see this done by a non-partisan commission, not the party in power,” Smith said, adding, “Well, that was preempted with the outcome of this vote.”
Schwarzenegger Blasts Newsom’s “Fantasy” Narrative
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who led a campaign against Proposition 50, directly challenged Governor Gavin Newsom’s claim that the measure was only temporary — calling that assertion “total fantasy.”
“I think when he — when they say this is temporary, there is no such thing. I mean, the longest programs are government programs that are temporary. Okay, just remember that if this is a tax program or if it is the redistricting program, anything that is temporary with government is permanent,” Schwarzenegger told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Newsom pushed Proposition 50 onto the ballot under the pretext of “countering gerrymandering” in Republican-controlled states like Texas, Missouri, and Indiana. Schwarzenegger warned that once Democrats seize control of the process, they’ll never give it back:
“In the year 2032 when the independent redistricting commission is supposed to come back, they‘re going to say, ‘Wait a minute. There‘s still gerrymandering going on in Texas… in Ohio… in Florida. We have to continue with gerrymandering.’ This is what‘s going to happen. They will find an excuse. So therefore I don‘t think it is temporary. So that‘s total fantasy.”
Democrats’ Double Standard on “Fair Maps”
When critics called out the hypocrisy, Newsom snapped, “Spare me the moral high ground.” What he didn’t mention is that Democrats have gerrymandered states under their control for decades — a tactic that has handed them dozens of additional House seats and entrenched their political dominance in blue strongholds like California, Illinois, and New York.
Schwarzenegger condemned the move as “cheating,” arguing that Democrats should focus on winning elections by outperforming President Donald Trump, not by manipulating district lines to guarantee power.
“What the Democrats should do is they should outperform Trump. To me, it‘s all about competition creates performance. And so what they do is with the redistricting commission is that they‘re going to go and try to draw the district lines in such a way that they get voted in, no matter if they work well or not for the American people. So the American people get cheated on this whole thing. That is really the problem here,” he said.
“Destroying Democracy to Save It”
The former Republican governor warned that by dismantling California’s independent redistricting process, Democrats were undermining democracy itself:
“I think that if you want to really fight for democracy, why would you go in, destroy the Constitution in California, tear it up and redo it, do the whole thing? So to me, it just doesn‘t make any sense at all.”
Schwarzenegger later reiterated his opposition online, posting a photo from his gym wearing a shirt that read “Terminate Gerrymandering.”
California’s passage of Proposition 50 underscores how Democrats have weaponized redistricting under the guise of “fairness,” effectively silencing independent oversight and securing political power for the foreseeable future — a move even many of their own voters admit runs contrary to democratic principles.