| Along the 215 Freeway from the Inland Empire's Murrieta to Riverside, opposition to California's Proposition 50 was evident last month. |
| Banners urging a "no" vote hung from bridges in Menifee, while electronic billboards blasted digital ads in Perris. This is Riverside County, home to Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican and currently the leading candidate to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in two years. |
| Hardly any support for the ballot measure, championed by state Democrats along with Newsom, was visible to freeway motorists. |
| Any hopes that an anti-Prop. 50 fervor would convert into a ballot box revolution, however, turned out to be a mirage for Republicans. The ballot measure to redistrict California received overwhelming approval by voters and passed even in Bianco's county. |
| That stinging defeat has split state GOPers on the future of the party, according to reporting from my colleague Seema Mehta. |
| Some have called for wholesale changes in leadership, others are asking for patience all while personal shots were directed at notable members, including former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. |
| Let's dive into some of her reporting. |
Criticism lingered about funding |
| Leaders of the Republican-backed committees opposing the ballot measure were questioned about how they spent nearly $58 million in the special election after such a dismal outcome. |
| Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, the once-prodigious Republican fundraiser, delivered a small fraction of the $100 million he vowed to raise for an opposition campaign. |
| Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) called on state GOP Chair Corrin Rankin to step down. He faulted other Republican leaders as well and longtime party operatives for their failure to defeat the measure, calling them "derelict of duty and untrustworthy and incompetent." |
| Rankin pushed back against the criticism, saying the state party was the most active GOP force in the final stretch of the election. |
| Raising $11 million during the final three weeks of the campaign, the party spent it on mailers, digital ads and text messages, as well as organizing phone banks and precinct walking, she said. |
What does Prop. 50 passing mean? |
| Barring successful legal challenges, the new California congressional districts enacted under Proposition 50 will go into effect before the 2026 election. |
| The new district maps favor Democratic candidates and were crafted to unseat five Republican incumbents, which could erase Republicans' narrow edge in the House of Representatives. |
| If Democrats win control of the body, Trump's policy agenda will probably be stymied and the president and members of his administration could face multiple congressional investigations. |
Governator became a target |
| Some Republicans lamented that Schwarzenegger was not more involved in the election. |
| The movie star championed the creation of the independent commission in 2010, his final year in office. He campaigned for the creation of similar bodies to fight partisan drawing of district lines across the nation after leaving office. |
| Shawn Steel, one of California's three representatives on the Republican National Committee, called Schwarzenegger "a cowardly politician." |
| Steel said that the former governor failed to follow through on the messages he repeatedly delivered about the importance of independent redistricting. |
| Schwarzenegger's team pushed back at this criticism as misinformed. |
| "We were clear from the beginning that he was not going to be a part of the campaign and was going to speak his mind," said Daniel Ketchell, a spokesperson for the former governor. "His message was very clear and nonpartisan. When one campaign couldn't even criticize gerrymandering in Texas, it was probably hard for voters to believe they actually cared about fairness." |
| For more on the splintering, check out the full article here. |
The week's biggest stories |
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| (Martina Ibáñez-Baldor / De Los; Photos by Jae C. Hong / Associated Press and Unsplash ) |
Trump policies and reactions |
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Notes from City Hall and greater L.A. |
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Air travel delays |
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Government shutdown and SNAP benefits |
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More big stories |
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This week's must-reads |
| | | After a century of oil extraction in the Baldwin Hills, pressure is mounting to free the 1,000-acre oil field for a better use. But long-held plans for a park may now face competition from the need for housing. | | | |
More great reads |
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For your weekend |
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| (Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph via Nick Lachey) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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L.A. Affairs |
| Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage. |
| | | He looked 20 years older than he did four years ago. In my head, I thought, 'This makes sense. The ugliness within him has deteriorated his physical body.' | | | |
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff writer
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
