Political Director’s Report – September 2025
Yes on Prop. 50 – It’s about Checking Trump’s Unprecedented Power Grab
By Antonio Sanchez, Political Director
IBEW 11 is supporting YES on Proposition 50 in the Nov. 4 Special Election because it’s good for labor and it’s good for our members. How?
We are supporting Proposition 50 because we want fair elections in all 50 states, not elections rigged by one side or the other. But Republicans are currently making that impossible.
Texas recently redistricted its congressional maps to send five more Republicans to the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. We also know that Missouri is starting to follow that path as well. Why? To help Donald Trump.
The fact is that Trump’s approval rating is close to 40 percent, with a 54 percent disapproval rating. Those numbers are bad. Really bad. Keep in mind that the midterm elections are not usually kind to the party in control.
Naturally, Republicans believe they’re going to lose control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. So, they got a big idea: change the congressional maps in Republican controlled states. Change the rules and try to stay in power. I must admit, to the credit of the Republican Party, they are organized and aggressive with their agenda.
In response, Governor Gavin Newsom moved quickly, calling for a special election to put Proposition 50 on the ballot. Newsom repeatedly stated that he would call off the special election in California if Texas didn’t move forward with its redistricting process. But as we all know, Texas Republicans moved forward with their plan.
So, now we are calling on all our members to vote to STOP the Republican’s power grab by Voting YES on Nov. 4. Proposition 50 will help send more Democrats to the US House of Representatives.
Why is that good for our members? It will help bring a halt to Trump’s anti-union agenda. Yes, just a few more Democrats in Washington, D.C. can tilt the balance of power back into the hands of working people.
Trump’s attacks on labor just keep coming. He has frozen or eliminated billions of dollars in infrastructure funding that created thousands of jobs for the IBEW, canceled union contracts for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, and shut down OSHA offices.
None of us know what he’ll do next, but I’m sure it won’t benefit workers and their families. So please join us and Vote YES on Proposition 50 and give the power back to the voters!
