{"id":1662,"date":"2025-09-01T12:47:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T12:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1662"},"modified":"2025-09-01T12:47:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T12:47:49","slug":"schwarzenegger-steps-back-into-political-arena-in-redistricting-crusade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=1662","title":{"rendered":"Schwarzenegger steps back into political arena in redistricting crusade"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is stepping back into the political arena as a crusader against partisan redistricting.<\/p>\n

Urging Californians\u00a0to \u201cterminate gerrymandering,\u201d the former governor and Hollywood icon has joined the likes of former GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), donor Charlie Munger Jr. and state GOP legislators in pushing back on the plan, which could net five Democratic House seats by temporarily bypassing the state\u2019s independent redistricting commission.<\/p>\n

Schwarzenegger has long been a champion of the commission, which voters approved during his tenure as governor. Political experts see him entering the spotlight to defend his legacy \u2014 even as current California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) stresses that the redistricting plan won\u2019t undercut the existing system.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchwarzenegger was and is a Republican, but there are certain issues that separate him pretty dramatically from the party mainstream. One of those was his work on climate change legislation, but his reform legacy might be what makes him most proud,\u201d said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist who\u2019s currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and University of Southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe sees it as under threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

California Democrats, led by Newsom, are asking voters to approve a ballot measure via a special election this fall that would effectively circumvent the Golden State\u2019s independent redistricting commission, allowing Legislature-approved lines to take effect mid-decade.<\/p>\n

The plan could effectively nullify Republican-led redistricting in Texas, where the state Legislature last week approved new lines that could net five GOP House seats \u2014 after President Trump suggested the GOP is \u201centitled\u201d to five more House seats.<\/p>\n

Newsom sees the Texas moves\u00a0as part of a broader Republican effort\u00a0to rig next year\u2019s midterms and has stressed that, if the plan is approved, the power to redistrict would eventually return to the independent commission, after the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.<\/p>\n

But Schwarzenegger has hit back against the efforts in both states.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very wrong what they\u2019re doing to Texas and it is very wrong what they\u2019re trying to do in California. It is not at all serving the people. It is serving the party,\u201d Schwarzenegger\u00a0told the Houston Chronicle\u00a0earlier this month.<\/p>\n

During his two-term tenure as governor, he championed the 2008 and 2010 voter-approved initiatives that established and then expanded the independent redistricting commission.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0mid-August interview, the Republican Hollywood heavyweight told The New York Times that he has a good relationship with Newsom and isn\u2019t trying to support Trump, but rather that he wants to defend the system he helped build.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nothing personal,\u201d he told the Times, as he pledged to fight for his \u201cpromise\u201d of citizen-led redistricting.<\/p>\n

California Republican strategist Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, called Schwarzenegger\u2019s effort part of his legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a legacy play for Schwarzenegger, but it also has the benefit of being something that he has long, long believed,\u201d Madrid said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was something he was talking about even before he was running for governor, as part of one of the intractable problems that was making California grind to a halt.\u201d<\/p>\n

That makes Schwarzenegger \u201cuniquely positioned\u201d to argue against Proposition 50, Madrid said, compared with other figures who appear to be weighing in from a more partisan perspective.<\/p>\n

Exact details of how Schwarzenegger may fight back over the next nine weeks remain unclear, but\u00a0he\u2019s signaled readiness\u00a0for \u201cthe gerrymandering battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his \u201cArnold\u2019s Pump Club\u201d site, he\u2019s selling a \u201cterminate gerrymandering\u201d shirt, a nod to his blockbuster film. The proceeds are being split between the California and Texas branches of the League of Women Voters, a nonprofit opposing partisan redistricting \u2014 though the California leg has said it\u2019s\u00a0not taking a stance on Proposition 50.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also backed an effort, Politico\u00a0reported this week, from Munger, the mega-donor who helped fund the ballot measures that set up the commission initially.<\/p>\n

In remarks at a Politico summit on Wednesday, Newsom stressed that he has long supported independent redistricting \u2014 and that the ballot measure itself supports the system, \u201cexcept for a temporary period, just for congressional seats, to respond to this unprecedented assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also revealed he\u2019s spoken to his predecessor about the push.<\/p>\n

\u201cI visited with Arnold on this. We debated this,\u201d the governor said, shrugging off a suggestion that the pair publicly debate the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely respect his point of view and position. And by the way, I told him, I share it. I just told him \u2026 redistricting doesn\u2019t exist anywhere in this country if this guy [Trump] wins and wires this. If you actually care about this issue, you\u2019re going to stand up for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom also said he reminded Schwarzenegger that \u201cwe\u2019re actually protecting his legacy by maintaining the independent redistricting and affirming it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0text of the amendment proposal\u00a0acknowledges that it\u2019s California policy \u201cto support the use of fair, independent, and nonpartisan redistricting commissions nationwide\u201d and calls on Congress to pass federal legislation for a U.S. constitutional amendment that requires the system nationwide.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, former Speaker and fundraising juggernaut McCarthy is also\u00a0rallying support\u00a0to \u201cstop Newsom\u2019s power grab.\u201d And Trump, though he\u2019s not involved with campaign efforts, has\u00a0vowed lawsuits\u00a0against California over the plans.<\/p>\n

If Trump does get more involved, that could pose problems for the opposition \u2014 while Schwarzenegger\u2019s tack is more likely to resonate with the\u00a0overwhelmingly blue\u00a0voter base in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeave it to someone like Schwarzenegger, and it\u2019s going to have far more credibility. \u2026 Voters won\u2019t see him as a partisan actor,\u201d said California Democratic strategist Matt Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

Both opposition camps \u2014 the more traditional Republicans and the reformers \u2014 want to beat Proposition 50, said Schnur.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re running different strategies. They\u2019re hoping that their efforts can ultimately become and ultimately complement each other. But there\u2019s inevitably going to be points of friction in terms of message, in terms of strategy, and in terms of fundraising,\u201d Schnur said.<\/p>\n

With a short runway to a Nov. 4 special election, the California redistricting fight could quickly become one of the most expensive and contentious ballot measure campaigns in state history.<\/p>\n

The effort has already drawn more than $13 million in support and $10 million in opposition, according to tallies from the California secretary of state, as of Friday. Munger has contributed the bulk of the opposition dollars, records show.<\/p>\n

And campaigning isn\u2019t the only avenue California Republicans are using to push back.<\/p>\n

California GOP legislators have so far\u00a0filed two petitions\u00a0to try to halt the plan before the state Supreme Court.\u00a0Both were rejected, but political experts expect this isn\u2019t the end of legal challenges against the maps.<\/p>\n

The top Republican in the California Assembly this week\u00a0also proposed\u00a0a \u201ctwo-state solution,\u201d suggesting the Golden State be split to isolate redder inland areas in response to redistricting. Though it isn\u2019t seen as a viable proposal in the Democratic supermajority-controlled Legislature, it highlights the intensity of Republican pushback.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Democrats are\u00a0revving up\u00a0to make the fight a referendum on Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have galactic, spatial egos, from President Trump to Charlie Munger to Arnold Schwarzenegger to Kevin McCarthy. It\u2019s going to be real hard to hold that together in a short period of time, but what it does tell us is it will be the biggest status game in politics this fall,\u201d said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University who has worked on books about ballot measures.<\/p>\n

\u2014Updated at 7:07 p.m. EDT<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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