Calmatters
With one week to Election Day, the Yes on Proposition 50 campaign has far outraised its opponent, and support for the redistricting measure is slightly ahead in the latest polls. Early in-person voting has also opened up in some counties, though President Donald Trump is discouraging voters from early and mail-in voting — putting California Republicans who accept these voting methods in a bind.
If voters pass Prop. 50, one of California’s congressional districts that would undergo a notable change is the 48th District, writes CalMatters’ Nadia Lathan. Currently spanning an area in San Diego County known as East County, it includes rural regions such as Lakeside and Blossom Valley, and is represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa. Lakeside, for example, is 64% white and has a median household income of $103,000.
But to the southwest, East County also includes urban, Democratic-leaning cities, including El Cajon and La Mesa, which are represented by Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of the 51st District. La Mesa’s population is about half white and its median income is $90,000.
Under Prop. 50, these areas would merge. The 48th District would absorb more Latino voters, as well as more Democratic voters from the left-leaning city of Palm Springs. Republican voting power would likely weaken as a result, making incumbent Issa — who cruised through reelection in the last two elections — more vulnerable.
Fredrich Bahrke, a 65-year-old Lakeside resident:
“I don’t like that they’re changing that and lumping us in the urban areas. It’s going to put us in a district with people with very different views in our area.”
Issa isn’t the only GOP congressmember who could find themselves newly disadvantaged: Rep. Kevin Kiley in California’s 3rd District would take in more voters under Prop. 50 who had been previously represented by his latest challenger, physician and former Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan.
