When they are in power, Democrats love to make up the rules as they go along. But when Republicans take over and decide to play the game by the rules Democrats made up, well, that's a problem. Former President Barack Obama was fond of chiding Republicans with a condescending "elections have consequences" reminder. Recently, Republicans on both the national and state levels have not been so subtle about returning that same rebuke in the form of an old Democrat "strategy": mid-decade redistricting, or gerrymandering, before the 2026 midterm election. Democrats are not happy, and the epicenter of their unhappiness is California.

Let's begin with how we got here. In August, Texas did a mid-decade redrawing of congressional maps. Republicans will potentially gain five seats from that redistricting. Again, because Democrats hate it when Republicans play the game by the rules they made up, before the new map was passed in Texas, California decided to play tit-for-tat and passed a law to set up a November special election where voters will be asked to approve new Democrat-leaning districts. 

READ MORE: Yet Another Reason to Vote No on California's Prop 50

But because California Gov. Gavin Newsom is all about sticking it to Texas, and ultimately Donald Trump, the result is Proposition 50, which will be on the November 4 ballot in California. If passed, it could eliminate four to six Republican seats in a state that is already gerrymandered within an inch of its life. But there are a few problems: one, unlike Texas, California's state constitution prohibits mid-decade redistricting, and two, in 2008, voters approved a measure that would transfer power to redraw congressional districts from the state legislature to an independent "citizens" commission.

Bypassing the law has never been an issue for Democrats, so fast forward to today. With a little over a month to go before the election, mail-in ballots have already been sent to millions of voters. However, on Tuesday, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber admitted to a big mistake regarding those millions of mail-in ballots that have gone out. A labeling error in the Voter Information Guide mistakenly labeled the proposed new congressional district 27 as district 22.

Needless to say, that's a pretty big oops in the midst of a special election that is already costing California taxpayers $285 million. Weber stated that a postcard will be sent to all voters in an attempt to correct the mistake. But the anti-Prop 50 group, "No on Prop 50 Stop Newsom's Power Grab," wants to know what's next. They released a statement on Tuesday, saying:

“Will Secretary Weber disclose the price tag of this correction, or will we have to wait for that information to leak like the original cost? Prop 50 is a rushed, reckless power grab that blew through safeguards and opened the door to critical errors. Now the integrity of California’s voting process is in question, sacrificed for the sake of political gain.”

While Gavin Newsom may be busy trying to stick it to Trump and Texas, a handful of GOP-leaning states are considering sticking it right back to Newsom. My colleague Ward Clark recently reported on the Missouri House of Representatives passing a newly drawn congressional map. The Show-Me state will likely go from a 7-2 GOP majority to 8-1. 

ALSO READ: Playing for Keeps: Missouri State House Approves New District Map

Because Gavin Newsom has been hell-bent on rushing through a special election that would strip California Republicans of what little representation they currently have in Washington, D.C., mistakes have been made that voters will be on the hook to pay for. Gary South is a California Democrat political consultant, who sadly summed up Newsom and proponents' main argument for passage of Prop 50: "Screw Trump and Texas too.”   

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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