{"id":167056,"date":"2025-08-22T17:48:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/167056\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T17:48:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:48:15","slug":"path-to-protecting-democracy-runs-through-san-diego-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/167056\/","title":{"rendered":"Path to protecting democracy runs through San Diego County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A ballot drop box in San Diego County. (File photo courtesy of the Registrar of Voters)<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like the game Trump Republicans are forcing us to play, but I refuse to let them play it unopposed. The path to protecting democracy runs right through San Diego County. <\/p>\n

Redrawing congressional districts mid-decade feels uncomfortable. But what\u2019s worse would be watching Democrats roll over while Republicans change the rules of the game, calling foul to referees who do nothing.<\/p>\n

\"Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom launched the Election Rigging Response Act<\/a>, setting a special election for Nov. 4. Triggered only if Texas or another GOP-run state enacts partisan map changes, the measure allows California\u2019s Legislature to draw temporary congressional maps through 2030. <\/p>\n

After that, power reverts to the Citizens Redistricting Commission<\/a>. So this isn\u2019t a unilateral power grab; it\u2019s a transparent proposal going directly to the people for their vote of approval.<\/p>\n

Contrast that with Texas, where Republican lawmakers are redrawing maps mid-decade behind closed doors, without voter approval, without oversight, without an independent commission. California\u2019s path is fundamentally different: conditional, subject to a vote, and designed to reset the playing field, not entrench power. <\/p>\n

Trump allegedly told the Texas governor to \u201cfind me five seats,\u201d and Texas capitulated. California\u2019s answer is very different: put the question to voters, debate it in public, and let the people decide. That\u2019s not a power grab. That\u2019s democracy in action.<\/p>\n

And the stakes are especially high here in San Diego County. Under the proposed new map, Congressman Darrell Issa<\/a>\u2019s district is reshaped, stretching east into San Diego County and the Coachella Valley, shifting it from safely Republican toward more competitive. <\/p>\n

In other words, San Diego finds itself right at the center of this fight. California\u2019s plan could flip multiple seats across the state, but one of the most important battle lines runs straight through our county.<\/p>\n

Newsom rightly frames this as pragmatic and counter-offensive. If we want to have a chance at maintaining our democracy, we can\u2019t roll over. We have to meet Republicans where they are, and use their tactics against them. This isn\u2019t about turning into our opponents; it\u2019s about refusing to be their passive victims. Republicans have relied on a double standard for too long. It ends now.<\/p>\n

Across the country, many people point to California\u2019s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission as the gold standard, and they\u2019re right. But this ballot measure is explicitly temporary, expiring after 2030, and only enacted with voter blessing. That distinction, temporary, conditional, and democratic, is the difference between principled action and partisan power grab.<\/p>\n

I want to be clear, we cannot keep fighting this fight every decade, state by state, map by map. We need to end partisan gerrymandering once and for all. Congress should pass legislation requiring every state to create its own version of California\u2019s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission: neutral, transparent, and accountable to voters, not party bosses. <\/p>\n

If Republicans want fair play, they\u2019ll support it. If they don\u2019t, then at least voters will see where they stand.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like being forced into this position. But even more, I refuse to let Republicans rewrite the rules unchecked. We\u2019re not surrendering to their hypocrisy. It\u2019s time to show up, respond with strategic force, and let the people decide.<\/p>\n

Kyle Krahel<\/a> is former chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party and a candidate for District 5 on the Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A ballot drop box in San Diego County. (File photo courtesy of the Registrar of Voters) I don\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":167057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,7330,7033,54763,22204,5620,3549,7264,358,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-167056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-darrell-issa","12":"tag-democrats","13":"tag-gerrymandering","14":"tag-redistricting","15":"tag-republicans","16":"tag-san-diego","17":"tag-sandiego","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115073679681427262","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}