To the editor: I strongly disagree with Mark Z. Barabak’s column lambasting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to counter Texas’ threatened redistricting (“Gavin Newsom is threatening to end-run California voters. It reflects a terrible trend,” July 23). When Proposition 20 passed in 2010, California voters still believed that our democracy was protected by a system of checks and balances. But things have radically changed since then.
Project 2025, a plan connected to several in President Trump’s administration and with which his policies have so far closely aligned, means to undermine the very foundations our system is built on. California is under threat, with the federal government taking away funding and trampling our state’s legal authorities. If Republicans in Texas and elsewhere essentially help rig the 2026 elections through mid-decade redistricting, those of us who still believe in democracy have to fight back by winning state-level elections and making sure Texas Republicans can’t disproportionately grab power in the national election.
It would be naive to prioritize protecting a 15-year-old ballot measure when fairness in our elections is at stake. I appreciate that Newsom recognizes this and I support his proposal.
Judith Lipsett, Claremont
