Schwarzenegger Urges Voters to Reject California Redistricting Measure

Arnold Schwarzenegger told voters on Monday to reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure to temporarily gerrymander California’s congressional districts, his first public rebuke since the proposal was placed on the November ballot.

Mr. Schwarzenegger, the actor and former Republican governor of California, helped create the state’s independent redistricting system to prevent politicians from drawing district boundaries more than a decade ago, and he still considers the approach a key piece of his legacy.

Mr. Newsom’s ballot measure, if approved by voters, would toss the congressional maps drawn by a bipartisan commission and replace them with districts that Democratic lawmakers created this summer to help their party for the next three election cycles. California Democrats see their measure as a key bulwark against mid-decade gerrymandering that was initiated by President Trump and Texas Republicans.

Nearly 15 years since he left office, Mr. Schwarzenegger on Monday gave the vibe more of a reflective statesman from a bygone political era than the guns-blazing terminator character he once portrayed onscreen.

Mr. Schwarzenegger, 78 and a moderate Republican, spoke during a fireside chat inside a chandelier-lit ballroom at the University of Southern California, where he addressed Mr. Newsom’s measure during a broader discussion with the university president about his life and his centrist approach to politics.

“It is important for you to vote no on Proposition 50,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said to the room packed with hundreds of students holding their cellphones aloft to record his remarks. “I hate to get political here, but this is not political. This is more about democracy.”

Mr. Schwarzenegger has enough star power to influence voters in California. And unlike most other Republican leaders, he has been vocal in his criticism of Mr. Trump, so moderate voters and Democrats may be more receptive to his message.

But Mr. Schwarzenegger has so far declined to record campaign ads for the committees or to raise money for them. Nonetheless, he allowed operatives from one of the opposition campaigns to attend his event at U.S.C. with a camera crew to capture his message, which could be shared on social media or included in television commercials.

The best-funded opposition effort is by the Republican donor Charles Munger Jr., who has spent at least $30 million so far to stop Mr. Newsom’s ballot measure.

“We’re not 100 percent sure how we’ll use it yet,” said Amy Thoma Tan, a spokeswoman for Mr. Munger’s campaign, “but we do know that voters want to know” Mr. Schwarzenegger’s position.

The race is shaping up as a largely partisan contest, with Democrats on the “yes” side and Republicans campaigning for “no.” Nonpartisan government watchdog groups that worked with Mr. Schwarzenegger to create the independent redistricting system 17 years ago have decided to stay on the sidelines this time around.

That leaves Mr. Schwarzenegger in a somewhat lonely position amid the hyperpartisan gerrymandering battle sweeping across the nation. Mr. Trump is pressuring Republican-led states to redraw their maps to help his party maintain control of Congress next year, and Texas Republicans have already created districts that are designed to help them gain five seats in their state.

Mr. Newsom has fought back with a ballot measure asking voters to redraw California’s congressional districts in a way that could help Democrats gain five seats in his state.

Mr. Schwarzenegger has an interest in the issue because, as governor, he championed a pair of ballot measures that took the power to draw political districts away from politicians. The measure in 2008 created California’s independent redistricting system, and a measure in 2010 expanded its power to draw lines for congressional districts.

Emphasizing his political independence, Mr. Schwarzenegger is trying to avoid getting too close to the Republicans backing the “no” campaigns. He has been highly critical of Mr. Trump for rejecting the results of the 2020 election and endorsed Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential race.

Supporters of Proposition 50 say that it’s necessary to pass their measure to help Democrats serve as a check on Mr. Trump in the second half of his term.

“If Trump is able to steal unchecked power for two more years, he’ll have free rein to keep up his assault on our rights — taking away health care, denying a woman’s right to choose and cutting funding for universities — including $400 million from U.S.C. alone,” Hannah Milgrom, a spokeswoman for the Yes on 50 campaign, said in a statement.

Mr. Schwarzenegger criticized the Democrats’ tit-for-tat approach.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me that because we have to fight Trump, we have to become Trump,” he said in his remarks at U.S.C.

“They are trying to fight for democracy by getting rid of the democratic principles of California,” he added.

Mr. Schwarzenegger began the event by memorializing Charlie Kirk, the Republican political activist who was assassinated last week. He criticized social media, the political parties, the traditional media and political extremism for tearing society apart, and he urged students to work together to bridge their differences.

“We’re getting hit from so many different angles, and we have to be very careful that we did don’t get in closer to the cliff,” he said. “Because when you fall down that cliff, down there, there is no democracy.”