In a newly released advertisement, former President Barack Obama lent his voice to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s campaign for redistricting reform, highlighting the stakes in the upcoming midterm elections. Obama cautioned that Republicans are aiming to manipulate congressional boundaries to secure a decisive advantage, thereby influencing the electoral outcomes for the next two years.

“California, the entire nation is relying on you,” Obama emphasizes in the brief 30-second advertisement. “Republicans are trying to seize enough congressional seats to skew the next election, granting themselves unchecked power. Proposition 50 is your opportunity to halt their plans.”

This endorsement marks a significant push from Newsom and his supporters as they promote the governor’s redistricting initiative. California voters are set to decide on this proposal in a special election scheduled for next month.

Governor Newsom announced in August his intention to hold a special November election. This aims to give voters the chance to approve a ballot measure that would enable Democrats to implement a new congressional map before the 2026 elections. This move is largely seen as a counteraction to Republican redistricting maneuvers in Texas.

Proposition 50 would enable California’s state legislature to circumvent the independent redistricting commission, allowing them to establish new district maps independently.

Obama approved of Newsom’s plan shortly after it was announced in August. 

“Since Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House and gerrymandering in the middle of a decade to try and maintain the House despite their unpopular policies, I have tremendous respect for how Governor Newsom has approached this,” Obama said in a post on the social media platform X. “He’s put forward a smart, measured approach in California, designed to address a very particular problem at a very particular moment in time.”

Recent polling shows a majority of California voters saying they approve of Newsom’s redistricting push, but there has been public pushback. 

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who championed the independent commission when he was governor in 2008, warned last month that Democratic leaders should not “become [President] Trump” in their effort to push back on Republicans on redistricting. 

 “I mean, two bad behaviors don’t make a right behavior. Two wrongs don’t make a right,” the former governor said.