“Common Cause is not for sale,” a pop-up window on its website reads.

Munger, who has been derided as a “MAGA millionaire” in Prop 50 fundraising emails, said in a statement that he has enjoyed a “long and productive relationship” with both Common Cause and the League of Women Voters and that it appeared they stood down under pressure.

“It is unfortunate both organizations reversed course,” Munger said. “I am disappointed that both have (so far) been silenced in this campaign, and hope that in the future each will return to the principles on which they were founded.”

By going neutral on Prop 50, Common Cause and the League inoculated Gov. Gavin Newsom and allies from a potent source of criticism. Newsom’s office publicly touted Common Cause dropping its opposition as a sign that “even watchdogs see the game Trump is playing.”

The organization’s move also contributed to a rapid party-wide shift on redistricting, spurring other Democratic leaders such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare they would also explore doing so. Even former President Barack Obama, long a good-governance champion, followed Common Cause announcing it would not condemn California’s redistricting effort by calling Newsom’s redraw “a responsible approach.”

Days after Kemp’s email to Munger, Common Cause’s national leadership instructed state chapters to refrain from speaking publicly about California’s proposal as the organization wrestled with a dilemma that tested its foundational principles. Common Cause subsequently announced it would not actively oppose Democratic efforts to counter the Texas gerrymander, which the group has called “a power grab,” as long as those plans matched the organization’s “fairness criteria.”

That assessment became another flashpoint within the organization. In late August, California staff circulated an analysis that cast doubt on whether California met the mark, raising concerns that Democrats’ plan would split up minority communities, receive insufficient public vetting and not explicitly prevent another round of mid-decade redistricting.

The national organization nevertheless announced that same day California met muster, creating internal turmoil even as it drew plaudits from Democratic leadership.

By that evening, multiple California advisory board members had stepped aside.

Lenny Mendonca, a national Common Cause board member and former top Newsom aide who praised the group’s favorable assessment of the redistricting initiative, said in an interview that there were “a very wide range of opinions” internally. He said he was in touch with Newsom’s orbit to try to learn about the plan and relay that knowledge fellow board members, characterizing the conversations as information-gathering rather than an effort to sway the outcome.