What Prop 50 and Measure A would mean for California and Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County voters will decide on two ballot measures, the statewide Proposition 50 and county-level Measure A, on Nov. 4. Both require a simple majority to pass.

Prop 50, a direct response to Texas redrawing its congressional districts, would suspend California’s independent redistricting commission until 2030 and redraw the state’s congressional districts to gain five additional Democratic seats. If passed, Prop 50 would affect the race for control of the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.

Measure A would raise sales taxes in Santa Clara County by 0.625% for five years to offset federal funding cuts to county medical services and hospitals. The county board of supervisors argued that increased tax revenue could provide extra funding for public hospitals, which rely on federal funding and treat a larger proportion of Medicaid enrollees.

In July, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his state would redraw its congressional districts to favor Republicans. California Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced Prop 50 in August as a retaliatory move. Several other states have since redrawn or announced that they will redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 midterms, including Missouri, North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia. 

“I think Newsom did the only thing that was possible,” said Joe Nation, a public policy professor who served as a Democratic California state legislator from 2000 to 2006. “If in the end, Republicans win 55% of the seats in the House because they have better ideas, so be it, but at least it’s a fair fight.”

Under the proposed congressional map, the Stanford campus would remain in the 16th congressional district represented by Democrat Sam Liccardo.

Robert Liu ’28, vice president of Stanford Democrats and an opinions columnist for The Daily, also supports Prop 50. Liu says that growing up in North Carolina, whose current map received an “F” from Princeton University’s nonpartisan Gerrymandering Project, made him aware of the negative effects of gerrymandering.

Liu said that Stanford Democrats has phone banked and knocked on doors to advocate in favor of Prop 50. “I’ve been in a weird position where I actually feel like I can do something,” Liu said.

Liu emphasized that the new maps would not be used if Texas abandoned its redistricting efforts and that the independent commission will draw maps after 2030. 

Opponents of Prop 50 include former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who oversaw the creation of the current redistricting commission.

“It saddens me to see that we’re going in the opposite direction rather than having an independent commission,” Schwarzenegger said in an Oct. 26 interview with CNN. 

Schwarzenegger believes that if Prop 50 passes, the independent commission would not return after 2030. “They will find an excuse… I don’t think it is temporary,” Schwarzenegger said. “If you really wanted to fight for democracy, why would you go and destroy the constitution of California?”

Charles Munger Jr. ’79, who led efforts to establish California’s independent redistricting commission, has donated over $30 million to campaign against Prop 50.

“I am deeply disturbed that my state is considering a return to the days when a single party had unchecked power to draw lines that entrenched its power,” Munger Jr. wrote in an opinion piece. Munger Jr. wrote that Prop 50 would “send a dangerous message to the rest of the country that reform is conditional and principles can be abandoned when they are convenient.”

The Daily has reached out to Stanford Republicans for comment.

Liu and Nation both said that the only solution to gerrymandering would be a nationwide ban. “If people really care about democracy, there’s a great opportunity to have democracy in every single state, in every single district,” Nation said.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors added Measure A to the ballot in August, citing a potential “fiscal emergency” resulting from cuts to Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) in President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which he signed into law in July.

“In California, the [Medicaid] funding split is about 60% federal, 40% state,” said economics professor Mark Duggan. “When the federal government is reducing that spending by making changes that are going to lead to fewer people enrolled in Medicaid, that’s just going to mean less money coming into the system.”

53% of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s revenue comes from Medi-Cal patients, compared to 18% of revenue at Stanford Hospital, which is private. 

Duggan added that Measure A’s sales tax increase would have a greater impact on lower-income residents of Santa Clara County. “It’s among the least affordable places to live in the country, and this is going to make that even more true,” Duggan said. “In San Jose, the tax rate is literally going to go to 10%.”

Nation also noted that Measure A would significantly increase the sales tax. “0.625% is about the highest I’ve ever seen,” Nation said. “We should take an overall broader perspective… as opposed to just sort of continuing to use Band-Aids to hold things together.”

Duggan said that California, with the nation’s highest unemployment rates, is facing statewide fiscal pressure. “We should be looking further ahead, thinking about… how we facilitate stronger economic performance in the state,” he said.

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