Gerrymandering is an idea that should be terminated.

The independent redistricting movement here, has vowed to fight Newsom with the same vigor that his character as a Thank goodness for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not only did he utter one of the top lines in movie history—“I’ll be back”—but he’s also bringing muscle to the fight against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s scheme to take Ventura County and the rest of the state back to the days when shady politicians decided who spoke for us in Sacramento and Washington.

Newsom’s “Election Rigging Response Act” is a constitutional amendment that, if passed by California voters, would temporarily override the state’s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Since 2008, that body has drawn state district lines. In 2010, it was handed responsibility for congressional districts.

The commission has worked fine ever since and there’s no indication that any Californian, save for Democrat Newsom, has an appetite to scrap the independent process.

The governor wants to temporarily suspend the commission and have the legislature redraw the state to favor his party, an ugly ploy from the past to counter what is a lawful redistricting attempt in Texas favoring Republicans. And he’s trying to ram his plan through as quickly as possible.

Newsom getting his way could have serious consequences for Ventura County, which shares the 26th Congressional District with a small portion of Los Angeles County.

Drawn by the independent commission, the district reflects the shared interests of residents from the coastal cities of Oxnard and Ventura to the inland areas of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, providing a cohesive voice for the region in Washington.

Under Newsom’s proposed scheme, Ventura County could be split into multiple new districts, meaning people in different parts of the county who share concerns about water, agriculture, infrastructure and other local issues, would suddenly find themselves represented by different members of Congress.

A collective voice would be weakened. Schwarzenegger, California’s most recent Republican governor and driver of cyborg assassin, first introduced in 1984 in “The Terminator,” fought. And he’s got a powerful sidekick in Charles Munger Jr., a fellow Republican who spent nearly $13 million on the campaign to pass independent redistricting and is ready to spend again to defend it.

These two care about California. Term limited Newsom cares only about his next job, which he hopes will be as president.

At the Reagan Library Republican Primary Debate in 2023, Newsom wagged his finger at the Acorn when asked about the state’s standing outside California.

“The future happens here first,” he responded emphatically, words that could apply to today, given Newsom’s desire to see other states take his lead on redistricting.

But California has seen the future that Newsom is turning to our ugly past to resurrect. If it’s not terminated immediately, we’ll have only ourselves to blame.

Acorn News Simi Valley CA Staff