DeMaio threatens "poison pill" redistricting response initiative
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Assemblymember Carl DeMaio announced Monday that he's pursuing a citizens initiative to undermine California Democrats' partisan redistricting push.
Why it matters: DeMaio, a Republican whose 75th district covers most of East San Diego, described his initiative as a "poison pill" that would ban any legislator who votes to put the redistricting measure on the ballot from seeking office for 10 years.
State of play: The citizens initiative would need to collect 1 million signatures to qualify for the ballot, which would fall to Reform California, the statewide political action committee he runs.
- Reform California was already pursuing a voter ID ballot initiative, and DeMaio said it will now use the funds it raised and volunteers it recruited to also collect signatures for his poison pill initiative.
- In a release, DeMaio said it's economically beneficial to seek two signatures for two initiatives at one time.
Catch up quick: DeMaio, a former city councilman who was elected to the assembly in November, changed his focus to statewide conservative issues with Reform California in 2017.
- The group played a central role in two unsuccessful statewide initiatives — a 2018 effort to overturn the Legislature's gas tax increase and the 2021 recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
- As a general purpose committee, the group raises money not for a specific cause or candidate but to broadly support any cause it picks up. It lists 21 active fights on its website.
Between the lines: DeMaio argues the poison pill initiative follows the logic of the state constitution, which bans people who serve on independent redistricting commissions from seeking office for 10 years.
- The Legislature would vote to replace the redistricting commission's maps for the next three election cycles, so "it is only fitting that the ban against benefiting personally from those maps be imposed on them," DeMaio said in his release.
What's next: The Legislature is expected to vote on a package of bills that would put the measure on the ballot by the end of this week.