Schwarzenegger launches anti-gerrymandering campaign, will match all donations
Arnold Schwarzenegger's passion for politics is resurfacing with the launch of a campaign to end gerrymandering... and he promises to match every donation towards the effort with a donation of his own.
The Republican, who has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, posted a lengthy statement on his website stating the facts and his new mission.
"Washington doesn't work – at least not for us," Schwarzenegger began.
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The former governor of California went on to note that while Congress fails year after year "to pass immigration reform, infrastructure investment, an actual energy policy, any measures to reduce our debt, or really anything at all," every two years, 98 percent of those politicians are re-elected. The country is more polarized now than ever.
"That's no accident – our politicians have literally divided us, drawing map lines so that they can pick the voters they want to represent, instead of letting the voters pick them. It's called gerrymandering, and it has broken our political system," Schwarzenegger wrote.
During his time in the state capital (2003-2011), Schwarzenegger faced government gridlock because legislators drew their own district, in every essence, picking their voters and virtually assuring their own re-election. In 2008, Schwarzenegger's California administration teamed with a coalition of government groups like Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and AARP that. And they succeeded.
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"That year California voters chose to take the power of drawing district lines away from the politicians and gave it to an independent commission," Schwarzenegger noted. "It is now time to take independent redistricting reform nationwide. It's complicated, but we are here to show you that it is not impossible."
The good news is that the Supreme Court already ruled that independent commissions like the one Schwarzenegger's administration formed in California are constitutional.
"It's a three-pronged attack – we will fight gerrymandering with grassroots initiatives, we will fight it by lobbying in state capitols, and we will fight it in the courts. Together, we will win. Let's not forget: people hold the ultimate power," he wrote.
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"You can take the first step, by joining this campaign today. In time we'll have other steps for you to help – nationally and state-by-state. By the way," he added, "I'm not just asking you to join me and send money. This is so important to me, I will be matching your donations."
He concluded, stating simply, "Let's make Washington work for us again."
You can read Schwarzenegger's post in its entirety here.
See Schwarzenegger through the years
