Hundreds rally with lawmakers in Santa Rosa in support of Proposition 50

“Don’t agonize. Organize” was Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire’s closing call to action at the Yes on Proposition 50 rally that drew hundreds to Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa Saturday morning.

Held by the Sonoma County Democratic Party, the rally served to drum up support for the proposition also known by proponents as the Election Rigging Response Act. If passed, Prop. 50 would temporarily suspend the current congressional maps drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission and allow the state Legislature to draw new congressional district maps for 2026 to 2030.

The Citizens Redistricting Commission would resume oversight over district maps in 2031.

Opponents of the proposition did not attend the rally Saturday but maintain the proposition is one “written by politicians for politicians,” adding that it would dismantle the safeguards that keep elections fair.

A spokesperson from Hold Politicians Accountable, the opposition’s sponsoring organization, could not be reached for a comment Saturday afternoon.

Californians will have the opportunity to vote on the proposition during a special election Nov. 4.

California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom say Proposition 50 is a direct response to the partisan redistricting efforts by Republican lawmakers in Texas to gerrymander the state’s congressional maps and pick up GOP seats in the U.S. House.

The Healdsburg native was one of five lawmakers to address the crowd Saturday morning. He was joined by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, Assemblymembers Chris Rogers and Damon Connolly and state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, D-Yolo.

The lawmakers took to the stage one by one, denouncing the Trump administration and what each described as a pressing “threat to democracy.” They spoke to an energetic crowd that cheered with each call to action.

Santa Rosa resident Ilona McCullogh, standing along the perimeter of the square facing Third Street, held a sign reading “Free and fair elections” and “Yes on 50.”

To McCullogh, the fight for democracy is personal.

“My mother was raised in Germany during the war,” she said. “All the things that are happening to take away power from the people and the polarity of wealth and power is frightening to me. If we don’t pay attention, we are going to slide into something even more dangerous.”

McCullogh, and other supporters of Proposition 50, see the measure as a way to take back power from the Trump administration.

Her message, like McGuire’s, was not to become passive but to get involved in “the fight for the future.”

Thompson, who took the stage after McGuire’s opening remarks, echoed those sentiments, saying that “too much is at stake” if California does not pass Prop. 50.

“Our democracy is at stake,” he said. “The same democracy I fought for in combat. … It is important that you are here. It is important that we win.”

The crowd also heard remarks from the California Nurses Association, the North Bay Labor Council and Planned Parenthood.

Iliana Madrigal, a research and policy associate with the labor council, addressed the crowd first in Spanish then repeated her speech in English.

“I stand here today united, not just by my work, but by a vision we share of a more just, stronger democracy and a future that works for all of us,” Madrigal said. “That’s why we are here to say it loud and clear, ‘Yes on Proposition 50.'”

Throughout the speeches, cars drove by and honked in support of the rally.

“We are mobilizing for the future of America,” McGuire said. “California did not pick this fight, but it is one we sure as hell are not going to run from.”

After the rally concluded, attendees were encouraged to drop by the Sonoma County Democratic Party booth to sign up for door-to-door canvassing.

“The election is not going to be won on Facebook,” McGuire told the crowd. “It is going to be won by knocking on doors and talking to voters.”