Awaiting the Verdict on Prop 50

by Roger Gitlin

November 4, 2025 - The polls remain open until 8 PM local time — and working-class citizens are holding their breath tonight across the state, as the results will undoubtedly reverberate across the country. Because this isn’t just another ballot check — this is a showdown over who runs the show: the people or the politicians.

Prop 50 was foisted upon voters like a fait accompli — a maneuver pitched as “necessary,” but clearly engineered for power, not for the principles this great nation was founded upon. It is California pretending it knows what’s best — and offering to show the rest of the country how to manipulate the system. Well, we’re tired of all that.

We’re tired of elite-managed reforms. We’re tired of one-party control masquerading as “progress.” We’re tired of the notion that California is the shining example of governance for the nation — when in reality, it looks a lot more like self-serving than service.

If tonight results in a “No” on Prop 50, it will send a message: not here, not like this, and not now. If Sacramento gets the green light — a “Yes” on 50 — then this becomes a serious change in how we view our role in national politics.

What happens next is crucial. And the people are watching.