Santa Barbara County will have a little more than two months to put together a special election to decide the fate of California’s electoral map.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Thursday calling for a statewide special election for a newly proposed congressional district map intended to favor Democrats.
The election, which will take place on Nov. 4, comes as a response to a vote by Texas lawmakers to redistrict that state’s own electoral map to favor Republicans.
“Californians have been uniquely targeted by the Trump administration, and thanks to the hard work of the California legislature, they will have a choice to fight back — and bring much-needed accountability to Trump’s efforts to undermine the democratic process,” Newsom said in a press release.
According to Michael Daly, chief deputy assessor and registrar of voters for Santa Barbara County, his department was alerted by the Secretary of State’s Office a few weeks ago that a special election was possible.
Daly said that even though the November date is shorter notice than usual, it will be an easier election in some ways.
“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Daly said. “It’s just another election, and it’s really simple in some respects because it’s just one issue. So, it’s not like a whole slate of candidates and parties. It’s just a special election with this one issue.”
Daly said the cost of the special election for the county is estimated to be $2.25 million to $2.5 million. The funds will be used to support the cost of running equipment, providing training, mailings and other labor.
The county’s Clerk-Recorder, Assessor and Elections Office also has standing relationships for venues across the county to host polling booths and hire temporary workers to staff a phone bank. They’ll also put out calls for volunteers closer to the election, and the county may work with Adopt-a-Poll again, Daly said.
“We always say, ‘Every election is an election.’ It’s the same. It doesn’t matter how much is on the ballot. Administratively, it’s very similar,” Daly said.
Ahead of the special election, Daly recommends that residents make the effort to research what the measure means. He also encouraged people to make the effort to cast their vote.
“No matter where you stand on the issue, you should go to the ballot box and make sure your voice is heard and you’re making a selection,” he said.
Proposition 50
Proposition 50 would suspend the current congressional districts and replace them with a map to potentially transform five Republican-held seats into districts that heavily favor Democrats, CalMatters reported.
Newsom previously had said that California would call for a special election only if Texas went through with its redistricting plan. Texas lawmakers moved to change their maps after a call by President Donald Trump for more seats.
If voters approve the new California map, it could potentially flip five congressional seats held by Republicans. That is the same number of seats that the new Texas map could flip from Democrats to Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
The California maps would be temporary, used through 2030, according to the proposal.
“California will not be a bystander to Trump’s power grab,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, said in a statement. “We are acting to defend our state from his attacks, by taking it directly to the voters. Californians believe in democracy and freedom, and we will not stand by while the House is hijacked by authoritarianism. Today, we gave every Californian the opportunity to stop Trump by saying yes to our people, to our state and to American democracy.”
California Republicans have vowed to fight the plan, and the California Supreme Court has already denied a lawsuit from the GOP last week, according to news reports.
On Monday, California Republican leaders filed an emergency petition to the state Supreme Court again, claiming that Newsom violated the state Constitution.
The request asks that the court remove the redistricting vote from the November ballot before Sept. 8 — before counties begin printing the November ballots.
Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, said in a statement that the election is an example of why the Citizens Redistricting Commission was created.
“We created the citizens commission to stop backroom deals. Instead, Sacramento is forcing Californians into a predetermined election with no transparency, no hearings and no public input. That’s not democracy, that’s authoritarianism, and I’ll fight it every step of the way,” Strickland said.