LOS ANGELES, Sept 16, (AP): Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday entered the national battle over US House control, urging voters to reject a California ballot proposal to rejigger districts that he said would erode democratic principles and allow politicians to "take the power away from the people.” "It is insane,” the former Republican governor and action-movie star said of Democratic-backed Proposition 50, a November ballot initiative intended to add five Democratic US House seats in California to offset President Donald Trump's moves in Texas to gain five Republican districts before the 2026 midterm elections.

"It doesn’t make any sense to me that because we have to fight Trump, to become Trump,” Schwarzenegger said. "Two wrongs don’t make a right.” The proposal championed by Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom would temporarily set aside districts crafted by an independent state commission and replace them with dramatically reshaped districts drafted by Democrats and designed to benefit the party's candidates.

If approved, it's possible the new political maps could slash five Republican-held House seats in the liberal-leaning state while bolstering Democratic incumbents in other battleground districts in the 2026 midterm elections. That could boost the Democratic margin to 48 of California’s 52 congressional seats, up from the 43 seats the party now holds.

Speaking at the University of Southern California, Schwarzenegger repeatedly stressed the proposal would set aside maps drawn in a public process by an independent commission he promoted as governor, and replace it with partisan maps shaped behind closed doors and blessed by "the politicians.” He never directly criticized Newsom or the Legislature's Democratic majority, which endorsed the proposal.

Schwarzenegger signaled last month he would actively oppose the ballot proposal, posting a photo of himself lifting weights on the social platform X while in a T-shirt imprinted with the slogan, "Terminate Gerrymandering” and a partially obscured obscenity aimed at "the politicians.” "I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,” he wrote.