California voters approved Proposition 50 on Tuesday for the 2025 statewide special election. Fresno State students expressed support and concerns for the passage of the measure.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced Proposition 50 to counter the Texas Legislature’s redistricting plan ahead of the 2026 midterm election.
The passing of the yes vote Proposition 50 will temporarily change the congressional district map of California until 2030 and will give the Democratic Party four to five additional House seats from California. A no vote would have kept the current congressional districts in place.
With 70% of Fresno County votes counted, 50.4% of Fresno County voters voted yes on Proposition 50, according to NBC.
Students such as Ashley Landa, a senior interior design major, were surprised by the election results on Tuesday. Landa, who voted yes on Proposition 50, did not expect to find more yes than no votes in Fresno County.
Students supportive of the measure expressed excitement and support for the legislation. Supporters approved of Proposition 50 as a form of protest against the Trump administration.
“I feel very hopeful for the future,” said Wayne Knoblauch, a junior pre-veterinary animal science major. “For a while I was not too hopeful with certain legislation passing, so I was definitely happy.”
Other supporters felt it was necessary for Proposition 50 to pass legislation in order to fight “fire with fire” against the Republican Party ahead of the 2026 midterm election.
“Nobody would have voted for it if they [Texas legislature] didn’t do it first,” said Alicia Betancourt, a senior biology major. “If they wanna play dirty, then okay, we’ll play dirty too.”
Critics of Proposition 50 expressed disapproval and frustration with the redistricting.
“Cause nothing says ‘We the People’ like rigging the system so half your population lose their representation,” a commenter said under The Collegian’s Instagram post, announcing the passage of Proposition 50.
Other critics of the measure felt the legislation was unfair and misrepresented California voters.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” another commenter said under the Instagram post. “We just voted away our citizens’ independent bipartisan redistricting commission that made the districting fair for us.”
Students can stay updated on who their representatives are and which congressional district they live in using this government website. The website keeps students updated on the current congressional map until the newly proposed congressional map is finalized for 2026.
