GOP blame game is on as push to stop California redistricting fades
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Republicans are embroiled in a fierce round of finger-pointing over California's vote next week on a congressional redistricting measure — an election they concede they're likely to lose.
- Some senior Trump political advisers and party strategists say a top operative of a pro-Trump group undermined their efforts to defeat a plan that could help Democrats gain five congressional seats. Others say the GOP is to blame for an ineffective campaign.
Why it matters: If California voters approve, the ballot measure — dubbed Proposition 50 — would pave the way for Democrats to cut into the advantage that several GOP-led states hope to gain through their own mid-decade gerrymandering.
- Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading the California redistricting push. To override the state's current map that was drawn by an independent commission, voters must approve Prop 50.
- A new CBS News/YouGov poll shows the California measure passing comfortably, with 62% support.
Behind the scenes: President Trump's political operation, House GOP leaders and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy have been raising money to try to defeat the measure. They've collaborated quietly, trying not to further motivate Democratic donors.
- As they focused on turning out pro-Trump voters in the Democrat-led state, a group financed by California megadonor Charles Munger Jr. looked to mobilize independents and moderates.
- Republicans raised more than $60 million — about $25 million from the Trump-House GOP-McCarthy effort, the rest from Munger, according to a person familiar with the figures.
The intrigue: Republicans involved in the anti-Prop 50 push say their campaign was torpedoed in late September.
- That's when Ashley Hayek, president of the pro-Trump group America First Works (AFW), met with about 50 major California donors at D.C.'s Willard Hotel.
- When asked if the measure was going to pass, Hayek said it appeared it would, based on public polling. "There's probably going to be redistricting in California," she told the GOP donors.
Senior Trump political advisers were infuriated by Hayek's remarks when they caught wind of them.
- Because AFW has the imprimatur of White House support, Trump advisers worried donors would think they were bailing on California and close their wallets.
- Also frustrating them was that Hayek's group wasn't involved with the anti-Prop 50 campaign, and that she hadn't given them a heads-up about what she would say.
- Internal polling at the time showed the anti-Prop 50 effort was still in striking distance of winning, the advisers say.
Hayek's comments also rankled top Republicans such as McCarthy and California Rep. Ken Calvert, a funder of the effort who could lose his seat if Newsom's redistricting plan goes through.
- Munger's team, which attended the meeting at the Willard, also expressed its displeasure.
Republicans say fundraising for their California effort has slowed since. They estimate that donors at the Willard meeting could have given $10 million to $15 million — but didn't.
- Republicans now have ceded the TV airwaves to Democrats during the final weeks of the election.
What they're saying: Hayek "hadn't seen any internal polling, didn't know what was going on, and spoke as if she knew something anyway," a senior Trump political adviser told Axios.
- In a statement to Axios, Hayek said: "We encourage everyone to vote against Proposition 50 and appreciate the hard work of those tackling this issue in one of the bluest states in the country."
Hayek's defenders say the criticism of her is unfair.
- They say Hayek was simply speaking to the political realities of a Democrat-friendly state where Newsom's redistricting push has become a referendum on Trump, who's highly unpopular there.
- They note that Republicans were trailing in fundraising and polling before her remarks.
- While Hayek has taken much of the heat, other Republicans say organizers of the GOP's effort in California failed to follow through on lofty fundraising promises.
