A majority of California voters say they support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) redistricting effort, known as Proposition 50, according to a new Emerson College survey released on Friday.
Fifty-seven percent of likely voters in the state said they backed the measure, while 37 percent said they did not support it. Another six percent said they were undecided.
“With less than two weeks until the California special election for Proposition 50, the measure looks likely to pass, with results again outside the poll’s margin of error,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Certain demographic groups that were hesitant to support the measure last month have come around to support Prop. 50, such as Black voters, whose support increased from 45 percent to 71 percent.”
Proposition 50 would permit the state legislature to bypass the independent redistricting commission in order to pass the new maps. Newsom championed to the effort to cancel out redistricting gains made by Republicans in Texas.
The poll also found that regardless of how they plan to vote on the measure, 56 percent said they thought Proposition 50 is a good idea while 44 percent said they believed it was a bad idea. Of the voters who said they planned to support the measure, 89 percent said it was a good idea and 11 percent said it was a bad idea. Ninety-three percent of those who said they planned to vote no said it was a bad idea while seven percent said it was a good idea.
The Emerson College poll was conducted Oct. 20 to 21 among 900 likely California voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.19 percentage points.
