Redrawing of district boundaries will shake up California politics

[bemildred]

Vicious new political battles. Farewells from longtime power brokers. More candidate choices for minority communities. Possibly even a more moderate statehouse. All could spring from the latest reshaping of California's electoral landscape — done for the first time by voters rather than Sacramento insiders.

The initial test of the new process will be Friday, when an independent panel that now performs the once-a-decade redrawing of political lines will release draft district maps for the state's 53 members of Congress, 40 state senators and 80 Assembly members. Incumbents could find themselves in unfriendly territory as seats merge and party leanings flip.

Californians stripped the Legislature of the redistricting task amid frustration with a polarized state government and gerrymandering that made seats perennially safe for most incumbents. The maps will be further refined, but it is already clear that the panel's work will dramatically affect the state's Legislature and congressional delegation.

"What this will create, in the short term, is chaos," as officeholders and aspirants scramble to find a place in the new order, said Paul Mitchell, a Democratic redistricting expert, who foresees an intense 2012 election campaign. When the dust settles, he predicted, half of the state Assembly will be freshmen and at least 10 current members of Congress will not return.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-maps-20110610,0,3926097.story

[JDPriestly]

1. This redistricting panel was a stupid idea in my view.

It would only attract members who are a bit nutty. That is my expectation.

[lazarus]

3. not necessarily nutty

I applied, but didn't know the three residents needed to write letters of recommendation for me.

All my friends live back east except for one here in San Diego.

[KamaAina]

2. The draft maps are out

http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/maps-first-drafts.html

So far, much ado about nothing. There are at least as many odd gerrymanders as before. The Alum Rock area of east San Jose, for instance, finds itself in a Monterey-based Assembly district! Meanwhile, the infamous 200-mile-long 15th Senate District remains largely intact, with the substitution of south Santa Clara County and west Santa Cruz county for San Jose's southern suburbs.

[Frances]

4. Will Anna Eshoo still represent Scotts Valley

(Scotts Valley is 6 miles inland from Santa Cruz)?

[KamaAina]

7. Looks that way - just barely.

http://c365736.r36.cf2.rackcdn.com/maps_20110610_q2_cd_bayarea_snmsc.pdf

[Frances]

8. Thanks so much for the link

I like Anna Eshoo, so I'm pleased she will be my representative!

[Xithras]

5. McNerney's district was vaporized.

As best as I can tell, it's been parceled out into at least three different districts. Of course, given the horrible gerrymander that the current boundaries represent, that's not neccesarily a bad thing.

I'm pretty happy with the overall map myself. I currently live on the Valley floor in CA-19, and despite our region having a Democratic majority, we're outvoted by the foothill teabaggers. It looks like they've merged the foothill districts into a single district and broke the Valley floor into several new districts. The 'Thug vote is reduced to one safe seat, and the Valley seats will be competitive for Democrats.

What's really interesting is that I live in Stanislaus County, and the new district lines follow the county line everywhere except the northern edge, where we "borrow" a couple of towns from a slice of San Joaquin County. For all practical purposes, my county will have it's own representative in Congress. Since we have a Democratic majority and Obama took the plurality vote last time around, I'm hopeful that we can send a Democrat to Congress. If that happens, it will be the first time in my life that I haven't been represented by a Republican in Congress.

Party time! :party:

[AlanCranston]

6. yeah the san diego map is a work of art

I liked how they drew the teabagger dump district.

[Le Taz Hot]

9. If I'm reading this correctly,

I was just moved from a moderately conservative district to the batshit crazy conservative district (from 19 to 21).

[Cleita]

10. Personally, I'm kind of happy with the new

proposed borders. It means my area will be redistricted to the 23rd district under a Democrat, Lois Capps, instead of where we have been under a Republican, Kevin McCarthy, in the 22nd district who hasn't had a Democrat run against him in the last three elections. I felt as if I had a king appointed to me that I couldn't vote against.

[proud patriot]

11. looks like Miller and Garamendi's district has been combined

Miller Miller Miller