Update: Gray, McClintock react to Prop. 50 passage. How did Stanislaus vote?
Early returns Tuesday showed a wide lead statewide for Proposition 50, which would remake House districts, but Stanislaus County differed.
The measure had 65.8% support throughout California but 48.6% in Stanislaus. The Stanislaus tally, not official and not updated as of noon Wednesday, includes only votes cast by mail or dropbox before Election Day.
Democratic leaders sought to flip five Republican seats by suspending the commission that usually draws the maps. Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for it after Texas did a mid-decade redistricting in the GOP’s favor.
The measure would mean a bluer district for Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, who won by just 187 votes last year. He would gain Stockton, retain part of Stanislaus and lose some of his territory to the south.
“Yesterday, California voters made their choice clear: They rejected Trump’s attempt to change the rules in the middle of the game and rig the final score,” Gray said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Texas’s efforts to redraw their district lines outside of the typical 10-year redistricting in line with the census are undemocratic and dangerous. California did this the right way. Voters decided their representatives — not the other way around. I’m hopeful that this will allow us to return some common sense back to Washington, rather than continued partisan gamesmanship.”
The maps also are friendly to Rep. Josh Harder, D-Stockton. He would gain the Antioch area but lose the northern tip of Stanislaus.
The county’s other House member, Rep. Tom McClintock, is not among the five targeted Republicans. His district would shed some of the Modesto area and grow to the east, still heavily red.
“The passage of Prop. 50 is a tragedy for California and an affront to representational democracy,” McClintock said in a statement shared with The Bee on Wednesday morning. “It effectively disenfranchises millions of California voters who cast their votes for Republicans. Although Republican congressional candidates received 40% of the vote in the last election, they will likely receive only 8% of the congressional seats. That’s the opposite of democracy.
“Small rural communities like Clovis and Lodi are split three ways to obtain the desired outcome. The farming communities of Modoc will have their next representative chosen by Bay Area voters 350 miles away.
“Californians have suffered terribly by leftist domination of this state, and now the few dissenting voices in our congressional delegation are being silenced. I intend to continue to fight for the principles of freedom from the fifth district of California, come what may, as I always have.
“Democrats already hold 40 of the state’s 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Proposition 50 aims for Reps. Doug LaMalfa of Redding, Kevin Kiley of Rocklin, David Valadao of Hanford and Darrell Issa and Ken Calvert of Southern California.”
The measure would use the new districts for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. The bipartisan commission would resume its role after the 2030 census.
Voting began in early October with ballots returned by mail or to dropboxes. Stanislaus County opened voting centers in numerous locations later. They were busy Tuesday, but no major problems were reported by Stanislaus County Clerk-Recorder Donna Linder.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 8:41 PM.
