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 handed in 2010, California voters nonetheless believed that our democracy was protected by a system of checks and balances. However issues have radically modified since then.
Challenge 2025, a plan linked 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 constructed on. California is beneath menace, with the federal authorities taking away funding and trampling our state’s authorized authorities. If Republicans in Texas and elsewhere basically assist rig the 2026 elections by mid-decade redistricting, these of us who nonetheless imagine in democracy should combat again by successful state-level elections and ensuring Texas Republicans can’t disproportionately seize energy within the nationwide election.
It might be naive to prioritize defending a 15-year-old poll measure when equity in our elections is at stake. I respect that Newsom acknowledges this and I help his proposal.
Judith Lipsett, Claremont
