Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections.
The California Legislature has approved a special election to redraw congressional district lines. Democrats stand to pick up five seats.
DUSTIN GARDINER and BLAKE JONES at POLITICO:
The California Republican Party finds itself on the periphery of a national effort by conservatives to beat back Democrats’ gerrymandering campaign.
It’s partially the result of an internal rift within the state GOP that some party strategists fear could hamper its efforts to fight redistricting — a self-inflicted wound that could put the party in a weaker position as it competes with Democrats’ fundraising machine.
A chorus of Republicans are now openly questioning the state GOP’s ability to lead the opposition to a redistricting map that could cripple their party’s influence here. …. They complain about sluggish fundraising and a lack of organization and cohesive messaging.
Instead, political committees outside of the purview of the state party apparatus and Chair Corrin Rankin are leading the effort to defeat Proposition 50, the Nov. 4 redistricting measure.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who’s running for governor, told Playbook the party has struggled to craft an anti-redistricting message that will resonate with independent voters and others beyond the Republican base.
“It’s not a cohesive, ‘All for one and one for all’” strategy, Bianco said. “We’re not coming together to say, ‘We’ve got to get the best message for everyone.’ We should be talking to California — we shouldn’t be talking to Republicans.”
Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a Republican from San Diego and frequent critic of the state GOP, vented about what he called a lack of party leadership to fight Prop 50 during an interview at the state party convention in Orange County this past weekend — a concern echoed by several prominent attendees.
“Open communication would be helpful,” DeMaio said. “The party hasn’t done a good job of that. It’s certainly hurting us.”
