Munger’s large donations allowed his anti-Prop. 50 group to hit the airwaves first, with ads highlighting voter support for independent redistricting. Munger’s political committee reported spending $26.7 million of the roughly $30 million he donated — leaving about $3.5 million on hand. Munger was the leading proponent of two ballot measures California voters passed in 2008 and 2010 to hand line-drawing to a citizens commission.
While Munger’s group focuses on good-government messaging, a separate political group has taken a more partisan stance. The committee, organized by Jessica Milan Patterson, the former chair of the California Republican Party, has labeled Proposition 50 “Gavin Newsom’s Power Grab” and plans to attack Democrats for their past opposition to independent redistricting, according to Politico.
But the committee has reported just $5.2 million in donations — despite former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Patterson ally, aiming to raise $100 million.
A wild card in the ad war is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who partnered with Munger on the measure to create the independent redistricting commission in 2008.
The former governor was front and center in an ad released by the Munger committee Tuesday, encouraging voters to oppose Proposition 50. Munger spokesperson Amy Thoma Tan said the campaign is spending about $1 million a day to place the spot on broadcast, cable and online.
But Schwarzenegger wasn’t an active collaborator on the commercial. His comments were pulled from remarks he delivered at his policy institute at a University of Southern California forum last week. At the university’s request, the USC logo was scrubbed from the backdrop — replaced by AI-generated “No on 50” logos.
Republican strategist Dave Gilliard said Schwarzenegger has unique appeal for California’s independent voters. But it remains to be seen whether the former governor will have further involvement in the campaign.
“I’ve been very surprised that he has not been more out there campaigning on this,” Gilliard said. “He’s a good spokesman for the group of voters that aren’t aligned heavily as a partisan Democrat or a partisan Republican — he’s good with them and he’s still got some strong numbers with those particular voters.”
