Friend,

The results are in, and 73% of Courage California members want California to redraw our Congressional maps in order to stop Texas and other states from stealing the next election.

All eyes are on our legislature now to see whether they will put an amendment on a November special election ballot to give our state representatives the power to redraw maps. Currently, Congressional maps are under the purview of an independent redistricting commission.

Redistricting in the middle of a census cycle has massive implications for our state that reach far beyond 2026, and Courage California has an important role to play in educating and engaging voters so that everyone has a voice in this historic effort.

We need to lay the groundwork to make any effort to redistrict for the 2026 election as democratic and transparent as possible! Will you donate to help put our plans into motion?

Gerrymandering has always been a hot-button issue, with politicians on both sides of the aisle picking and choosing their voters in order to ease their paths to victory.

But what Texas is doing is on a whole different level. Redrawing maps usually takes place when a new census has come out or when a party changes power. Texas is using it solely at the behest of Donald Trump, and with the express intent of minimizing the voting power of people of color.

While some believe that California has a patriotic duty to do whatever possible to stop Texas and other states from taking control of Congress threw redrawn seats, others remember that we went to the polls in 2008 to pass our Voters First Act, giving power to an independent commission to draw our maps, and are not willing to hand that power back to the California Assembly.

But most importantly, most people don’t know the facts about gerrymandering. Voters’ knowledge about the legislation behind redistricting, what Texas is trying to do, and how districts are drawn in the first place is very slim, and we need to change that if we want them to make the most informed decision possible about the California proposal.

That’s why we are ramping up our plans to:

• Producing explainers and a special election Courage Voter Guide and, if and when it qualifies for the ballot, virtual events.
• Share critical information on our vast social media network.
• Organizing partners statewide to coordinate field and digital voter engagement.

This work is resource intensive, and we’re having to pivot quickly!

Will you donate to help ensure this redistricting effort is as democratic and transparent as possible?

Thank you for staying in the fight!

–Irene, along with Annie, Angela, Isidra, Cecilia, Jen, and Lindsay (the Courage team)