Meet the Silicon Valley Donors Backing California’s Redistricting Push

Within the newest signal that Silicon Valley titans are more and more throwing their weight behind political points, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has contributed $2 million to assist Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50 marketing campaign.

The transfer is the newest underscoring how Silicon Valley’s deep-pocketed executives are more and more wielding affect in California politics and past.

The November poll measure would scrap California’s unbiased redistricting fee, returning map-drawing authority to the state legislature, the place Democrats maintain agency majorities.

Backers argue the change would counterbalance GOP-led gerrymanders in states like Texas and Florida, doubtlessly netting Democrats half a dozen U.S. Home seats in 2026.

Hastings’ donation highlights the growing role of tech fortunes in political fights. The Netflix co-founder has lengthy been a high-profile donor, beforehand giving $3 million to Newsom’s 2021 recall protection. He has additionally funded statewide training reform initiatives and donated closely to nationwide Democratic causes.

Different Silicon Valley figures are becoming a member of him

Ron Conway, one of many Valley’s most prolific angel traders, has pledged assist, and Y Combinator’s Paul Graham gave $500,000. Their involvement echoes a broader development: Tech executives are more and more channeling private wealth into shaping coverage outcomes, usually by means of poll measures the place their {dollars} can have an outsized influence.

California has been a testing floor for such efforts.

In 2020, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash collectively spent greater than $200 million to move Proposition 22, rolling again state labor guidelines that threatened their enterprise fashions. Extra just lately, enterprise capital and crypto executives have funded campaigns to withstand new taxes and rules.

Tech cash is more and more flowing into politics

The sample isn’t restricted to California. On the nationwide degree, know-how cash has change into a serious drive in politics.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former crypto billionaire, spent more than $40 million on congressional races in 2022 earlier than his collapse. Some estimates put his whole political contributions at greater than $70 million throughout 18 months, reflecting his ambition to exert affect on the federal degree

Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet stay amongst the top corporate spenders on lobbying in Washington. These interventions have helped shape debates starting from antitrust reform to AI regulation.

According to Axios, within the first quarter of 2025, Meta spent $8 million lobbying, adopted by Amazon at $4.3 million, with Microsoft at $2.4 million. OpenSecrets reports Amazon’s whole federal lobbying for 2025 (first half) at $9.35 million, and Alphabet (Google’s mother or father) at round $7.81 million

For critics, Proposition 50 represents one other occasion of rich tech donors tilting the political taking part in discipline.

Opponents, together with GOP donor Charles Munger Jr., who has already dedicated $10 million to defeat it, say dismantling the unbiased redistricting system voters accredited in 2008 is a unadorned energy seize. Former Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy has also jumped into the fray, casting the measure as an effort by Democrats and their Silicon Valley allies to “rig the map.”

Are Silicon Valley tycoons the kingmakers but?

What makes the struggle particularly vital is its nationwide influence.

California, with 52 Home seats, stays the most important single prize in congressional redistricting. Even a small shift in district traces might decide management of the Home in 2026. For Democrats, aligning with rich tech donors gives a method to maintain tempo with Republican fundraising networks which have lengthy used redistricting to their benefit.

Whether or not Hastings and his friends can sway voters stays unsure. Early polls present Californians cut up on Proposition 50, reflecting skepticism about giving lawmakers extra management. However the torrent of Silicon Valley cash ensures that by November, voters will probably be listening to arguments on each side at near-constant quantity.

If profitable, the marketing campaign would additional cement Silicon Valley not solely as an financial powerhouse but in addition as a decisive political participant, with ambitions that stretch far past California’s borders.