STEVE HILTON RELEASES NEW LEGAL OPINION ON NEWSOM/BONTA REDISTRICTING SCHEME: “THEIR SCHEME VIOLATES THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE OF THE U.S. AND CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTIONS. IF THEY GO AHEAD, I WILL FILE LAWSUITS IN STATE AND FEDERAL COURT TO STOP THEM”
SACRAMENTO, CA – California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton today announced his plan to take legal action to stop Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta from redrawing California’s congressional maps years before the next U.S. Census, calling the move “a blatant, unconstitutional and illegal power grab designed to cement one-party rule.”
At a press conference outside the office of the state Attorney General in Sacramento, Hilton said: “I would much rather not be here, and I would much rather be talking about how we make life better for working people and small businesses in California, who are being crushed by the elitist policies of the Democrats in charge of our state. But our democracy is at risk, and we cannot allow Gavin Newsom to gerrymander California’s electoral districts still further.”
“Newsom’s scheme involves calling a special election to amend Article XXI of the California Constitution to overturn the decision of the voters to take redistricting power out of the hands of the state legislature, and to temporarily allow redistricting within the ten-year period specified by the Constitution.”
But there are legal and constitutional barriers beyond Article XXI. A legal memorandum prepared for the Steve Hilton campaign by JW Howard Attorneys makes clear that the Equal Protection clauses of both the California and U.S. constitutions prevent redistricting without a new census, because one-person-one-vote protections require electoral districts of roughly equal size. It is impossible to ensure that without an up-to-date census. This is especially the case right now in California, after millions of people have fled the state thanks to the high cost of living, crime, and chaos on the streets – not to mention displaced populations after the recent wildfires.
Hilton outlined a two-pronged legal strategy: a state court action to block mid-decade redistricting under California law and a federal lawsuit arguing the plan violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Reynolds v. Sims.
“Equal protection under both the California and U.S. Constitutions demands that districts be as equal in population as possible. Five years after the last census, that’s impossible.” Hilton said. “I hope we don’t even get to this point, but if Gavin Newsom goes ahead with his illegal and unconstitutional scheme to steal six Republican House seats in order, as he puts it, to “end the Trump presidency,” I will file suit in state and federal court to stop him. This won’t even make it to the ballot. His outrageous power grab will be dead on arrival.”
The legal memo from JW Howard Attorneys describing the redistricting proposal in more detail can be found here.
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For more information about Steve Hilton’s campaign and vision for California, visit www.stevehiltonforgovernor.com.