FRESNO, Calif. — The Kings County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution this month to oppose Proposition 50, the Nov. 4 special election ballot measure that would temporarily replace the current congressional districts’ map in California.

The supervisors’ resolution described the measure as a “wasteful expenditure of taxpayer dollars” that would “deny the will of the people to utilize independent redistricting commissions to draw fair, non-partisan, and equity-driven district lines.”

Voters next week will decide the fate of Prop. 50, which would allow the state Legislature to temporarily redraw district lines from 2026 to 2030, replacing the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.

The ballot measure doesn’t change the total number of districts in the state, though the redrawn maps would be used for congressional elections starting in 2026 until the independent commission draws new districts maps following the 2030 U.S. Census to reflect population shifts.

The statewide ballot measure is an attempt by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders to neutralize Texas’ new redistricting map intended to garner more seats in Congress for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

Most of Kings County — including the cities of Avenal, Corcoran and part of Hanford — is currently in California’s 22nd Congressional District represented by U.S. Rep. David Valadao, a Republican from Hanford. This district in the San Joaquin Valley also includes parts of Tulare and Kern counties, and its boundaries were redrawn after the 2020 census.

Under Prop 50, the city of Avenal and surrounding rural areas would move from Valadao’s 22nd Congressional District to the 18th Congressional District currently represented by U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from San Jose.

Kings County Supervisors Doug Verboon, Joe Neves and Rusty Robinson voted for the resolution. Supervisors Robert Thayer and Richard Valle were absent.

Verboon, a Republican, said the state initiative “penalizes people of a different party.”

“Our voice will be deleted,” he said. “This is politics by the governor, and his party takes away our voice.”

Valley Voices, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in 2019 to increase civic engagement in the Tri-County area, urged the board to stay neutral and allow voters to make their own decision at the ballot box.

“We encourage the board to remember that you don’t have to take a side, and that regardless of your personal beliefs, your responsibilities on this board are to remain nonpartisan,” said Red Fitiausi, a representative of Valley Voices. “Local governments should be focused on improving residents’ quality of life, not taking partisan positions on statewide ballot measures.”

Following the 2020 Census, the nonpartisan California Citizens Redistricting Commission combined part of Santa Clara County with parts of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties and all of San Benito County to form the current 18th Congressional District (CA-18). The district includes parts of San Jose and Salinas, as well the third-largest agricultural county in the state connecting the Silicon Valley with the robust agricultural sector in the Salinas Valley.

Verboon said his concern is that if someone from San Jose wins office and represent Avenal, the city in the southwest corner of the county won’t have a representation.

“Avenal already feels like a stepchild and feels that we don’t take care of them, so we need to take care of our community,” Verboon said.

The Kings County Board of Supervisors is not the only county board to oppose Prop. 50. The Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted, 4-0, earlier this month to oppose the measure, as did the Clovis City Council.

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