Blue Shield of California donated $500,000 this year to Governor Gavin Newsom’s ballot-measure committee backing Proposition 50, a November 4 special-election measure to temporarily redraw the state’s congressional map. The insurer says it has not taken a position on Prop 50, while polls show the proposal leading.
Proposition 50 would authorize temporary, legislature-drawn congressional maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, replacing the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s lines until the next census cycle. Framed by supporters as a counter to Republican-led mid‑decade redistricting in Texas, the measure could shift as many as five U.S. House seats toward Democrats. Election Day is November 4, 2025. (voterguide.sos.ca.gov)
The California Democratic Party describes Prop 50 as “a direct response to a Republican power grab orchestrated by President Trump and state leaders in Texas,” asserting the new lines could neutralize up to five GOP seats added in Texas. Opponents argue the plan would sideline the state’s nonpartisan redistricting reforms. (cadem.org)
According to the Daily Wire, citing state filings, Blue Shield of California contributed $250,000 on April 24 and another $250,000 on July 16 to “The Election Rigging Response Act, Governor Newsom’s Ballot Measure Committee,” which is listed in the official voter guide as supporting “Yes on 50.” Blue Shield told the outlet it “has neither made contributions to Proposition 50 nor taken a position on the measure,” saying the checks were written before the governor unveiled his redistricting push. California’s public voter guide lists the governor’s committee under the “For” side of Prop 50. (dailywire.com)
The timing remains a political flashpoint. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on July 9 a special legislative session including congressional redistricting; Newsom publicly rolled out his counter‑redistricting framework on August 14 and signed legislation on August 21 calling the November 4 special election. (texastribune.org)
With a week to go, Newsom told backers to stop donating after saying the “Yes on 50” campaign hit its fundraising goal. Recent surveys show majority support: a CBS News/YouGov poll found the measure ahead 62% to 38%, while an Emerson College poll put support at 57%. (cbsnews.com)
The insurer’s policy priorities have also drawn notice. On August 5, Blue Shield joined more than two dozen health groups urging Congress to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, warning that without an extension “the cost of health insurance will explode, with typical American families forced to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more each month.” Independent estimates put a permanent extension’s 10‑year federal cost at roughly $335 billion, a central sticking point in October’s federal government shutdown fight. (news.blueshieldca.com)
On rates, Covered California reported an average 7.9% premium increase across the exchange for 2025, with Blue Shield of California at 8.5%. For 2026, Blue Shield’s individual‑market filing indicates a 9.3% average increase. (coveredca.com)
Republican critics cast Prop 50 as a partisan power grab. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told the Daily Wire that Democrats are “holding the American people hostage over…bailouts for insurance companies,” while Brittany Madni of the Economic Policy Innovation Center called it a “subsidy scam.” Those comments were made to the Daily Wire and could not be independently corroborated elsewhere. (dailywire.com)
Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice said it will monitor polling places in five California counties—Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Fresno and Kern—and in Passaic County, New Jersey, to “ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.” Gov. Newsom criticized the move as intimidation; California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state will send its own observers to “monitor the monitors.” (justice.gov)
On The Nation’s Start Making Sense podcast, journalist Harold Meyerson predicted that any postelection challenges to Prop 50 would likely fail if the measure passes by a wide margin. (thenation.com)