'This Is The Only Way, To Fight Fire With Fire': Reactions To Prop. 50 Passage In CA

The passage Tuesday of Prop. 50 in California, a victory for Gov. Gavin Newsom, is largely seen as a rebuke by Golden State voters of President Donald Trump.

Major media outlets projected the measure's passage mere minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m. As confirmation of a win became clearer for the Yes on 50 campaign, Newsom gave a live speech in Sacramento, streamed on X, thanking voters for defending democracy and rallying Democratic leaders and voters around the nation for the midterm battle ahead.

"And let me make this crystal clear. We can de facto end Donald Trump?s presidency as we know it the minute Speaker [Hakeem] Jeffries gets sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives," Newsom said. "It is all on the line, a bright line in 2026. And so I want to thank everybody that stood up not just for our democracy, for those that feel bullied and intimidated, stood up for this notion of co-equal branches of government and a system of checks and balances."

Prop. 50 was one of several Democratic wins across the country on Tuesday. Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the race for Virginia governor. Rep. Mikie Sherrill won the governor's race in New Jersey against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, keeping the governorship under Democratic control for a third term. Democrat Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Trump weighed in on the Democratic victories on his social media platform Truth Social.

"TRUMP WASN?T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT," according to Pollsters," the president wrote.

Trump continued venting with a flurry of Truth Social posts, including a vague, apparent threat, "?AND SO IT BEGINS!."

SEE ALSO: Prop. 50 Passes In California: Rebuke Of Trump, Victory For Newsom

The president's supporters railed against the election outcome. Assemblyman David Tangipa called the measure's passage "A sad day" because "the people of California have been lied to."

"They've been lied to by Governor Newsom and the elites here in Sacramento, and these election results just proved that they campaigned on a whole lot of lies and drove emotionally charged arguments to get people to vote against their best interests by protecting the gold standard on the redistricting committee," Tangipa (R-Fresno) said at the California Republican Party's Sacramento headquarters.

The majority of California voters who cast a ballot saw it differently as did some of the legislators who stand to benefit from the new House maps approved by voters.

"Tonight, California voters stood up to Donald Trump, rejecting his attempt to steal elections in states like Texas, Florida, and Ohio," Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine, said in a statement. "The maps created by Proposition 50 are a direct response to Donald Trump's unprecedented power grab."

The GOP congressmen ? Reps. Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao and Doug LaMalfa ? will see right-leaning voters reduced and left-leaning voters boosted in their respective districts in a shift that would make it likely a Democratic candidate would prevail in each race.

Issa issued a defiant statement, saying: ?I'm not going anywhere. I'll continue to represent the people of California regardless of their party or where they live."

Calvert said Newsom engineered a ?power grab? while housing costs, gas prices and taxes continue to strain family budgets. "I am determined to keep fighting for the families I represent," he said in an email.

Many voters who came out in support of Prop. 50 said it's Trump and his GOP allies who are guilty of a "power grab."

Siddhartha Deb, 52, has lived in the U.S. since he was 7 years old, but he just became a citizen Tuesday. Immediately afterward, he registered to vote at San Francisco City Hall and cast his ballot in favor of Newsom's measure.

"I don?t like the way the Republican Party is basically trying to rig elections by gerrymandering," Deb said. "And this is the only way, to fight fire with fire."

Early Tuesday ? hours before the polls closed ? the president and his press secretary claimed there was voter fraud in the election, prompting state leaders to push back.

"The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. "All 'Mail-In' Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are 'Shut Out,' is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!"

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is working on an executive order in response to Prop. 50.

"California has among the WORST laws for securing elections in the entire nation," Leavitt posted Tuesday on X. "Governor Newscum and the rest of the radical Democrats in California blatantly refuse to adopt commonsense election integrity measures."

California Sen. Adam Schiff responded to Trump's claim of a rigged election on X. "California's elections are not rigged," he wrote. "Trump isn't even on the ballot today and he's still pushing baseless conspiracy theories to undermine confidence in our elections."

California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., issued a response to the administration's claims.

?If there are irregularities, what are they? Why won?t they identify them? Where exactly is this fraud? Ramblings don?t equate with fact,? Weber said.

?The bottom line is California elections have been validated by the courts," she continued. "California voters will not be deceived by someone who consistently makes desperate, unsubstantiated attempts to dissuade Americans from participating in our democracy."

California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters Monday that he is ?100 percent? concerned about false accusations by the administration of wrongdoing at polling places, saying it would be "naive" to assume Trump will accept the results of the Nov. 4 election.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.