Redistricting in America

On January 10th, the California redistricting process moves to the State Supreme Court. The Court faces a question it would undoubtedly prefer to avoid: the degree of involvement it will have in redistricting the State Senate.

On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court unanimously struck down two Republican challenges to the redistricting plans put forth by the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The two petitions, which dispute the validity of the state legislative and congressional maps, were brought by GOP activist Julie Vandermost and former GOP congressman George Radanovich respectively.

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David Dreier, who chairs the House Rules Committee, has a seat at the GOP leadership table, helping set his party's legislative and political agenda. He has hobnobbed with all kinds of figures, from Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Tommy Lasorda, in his spiffy Capitol office. He owns homes in Malibu, Rancho Mirage and his San Gabriel Valley district. And, as head of a panel that works to promote democracy abroad, he has traveled to such places as East Timor and Mongolia. He seems to have everything — except a district to run in next year.

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Looking for heated congressional battles next year? Time to start California Dreamin'. Recently, competition has been missing in California congressional elections: over the past five cycles, only one congressional district has changed partisan allegiance - California 11 in 2006 moved from Republican to Democrat - out of 265 contests. But that's about to change. Due to an historic redistricting plan finalized by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, an early estimate for 2012 is that at least 15 of the 53 districts may change partisan affiliation, based on our analysis of the demographic and partisan composition of the proposed districts, including two districts almost certain to add Democrats and lose Republicans.

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A group of Republican leaders said Monday that the new redistricting plan will be challenged by a referendum drive. "A referendum will be filed with respect to the Senate lines and possibly the congressional lines," said California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro. "The California Republican Party will wholeheartedly support those efforts when they come about." He said the redistricting commission's actions "have been unfair if not unconstitutional." GOP lawmakers and activists have formed a committee called Fairness & Accountability in Redistricting to launch a petition drive to overturn the state Senate lines, according to Republican political consultant Dave Gilliard.

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For the first time in state history, an independent group of citizens has redrawn California's political districts, approving a set of maps this morning that are expected to help Democrats garner more power in the solidly blue state.

The 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission approved new district boundaries for the state Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization on a 13-1 vote, with one Republican - Michael Ward of Anaheim - opposing the lines. Another Republican member, Jodie Filkins Webber of Norco, joined Weber to vote against the Congressional boundaries. In a written statement, Weber charged that the commission broke the law by splitting African-American voters among several congressional districts in Los Angeles County.

California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission on Friday voted to approve its final draft, releasing what could be close to the final product of the state’s new congressional map. The new map, which shakes up the state’s delegation in a major way, looks a lot like the commission’s first draft (that analysis here), with some minor changes along the way.

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A California redistricting panel moved one step closer Friday to dramatically transforming the state’s congressional landscape, approving a final draft map that is likely to result in widespread turnover. The plan, designed by the bipartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission, demolishes a meticulously gerrymandered, incumbent-oriented map while jeopardizing the careers of long-serving lawmakers who are Capitol Hill staples.

LAS VEGAS — The population of Latinos has exploded here, and they want their voices heard not just in the halls of schools like Clark High or on the growing number of Spanish-language radio stations, but also with a louder voice in Congress. The swelling ranks of Latinos here are a big reason Nevada will win a new seat in Washington. And so, as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process, leaders here are sketching out a new Congressional district that would give Latino neighborhoods more sway over their representative in Washington.

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Hispanic advocacy groups in California are alarmed about new political maps that sketch proposed boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts, saying the changes will disenfranchise the fastest-growing segment of the population in a state where the number of Hispanic politicians has soared during the past two decades.The debate over that concern is likely to escalate in the coming weeks, as an independent redistricting commission takes public comment and wrestles with revisions before voting on a final version Aug. 15.

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A new redistricting proposal in California would draw nearly half the state’s congressional incumbents into districts with one another and significantly expand Democrats’ ability to win seats in the Golden State in 2012 and beyond. The state’s new Citizens Redistricting Commission voted this afternoon to release its first draft proposal for the new congressional map. The proposed map was expected to include huge changes and shake up the delegation by drawing numerous members into districts with each other — and it definitely did that — but in the runup to the release it wasn’t as clear which party would benefit from all those changes.

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Visit rosereport.org/draftplans to view current Congressional, Senate, and Assembly district proposals from the California Redistricting Commission, as well as the current lines and interest group plans

Illinois and Texas have taken center stage in a redistricting battle that could have significant ramifications for the future makeup of Congress. Republicans accuse Democrats of gerrymandering in Illinois, a Democratically controlled state where the GOP stands to lose as many as six House seats in the redistricting process.

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For decades, except when the courts stepped in, entrenched California legislators drew up the electoral maps, creating bizarrely shaped, heavily gerrymandered voting districts that marched over mountain ranges and chopped neighborhoods to bits — all to ensure that the incumbent got re-elected. Known as "redistricting," the once-per-decade map-making increasingly...

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California's landmark attempt to change the way the state draws its political boundaries took center stage Monday in Silicon Valley, as one activist after another spoke up at a public hearing for their turf.

From ethnic groups to neighborhood associations, about 150 people crammed into San Jose's Mayfair Community Center, eager to help shape a statewide redistricting plan a new citizens commission is drafting.

"They're not just jiggling the lines," said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book. "There's going to be a lot of change."

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We’re through the first big week of congressional redistricting, and everything has more or less gone according to plan. In Indiana and Louisiana, Republicans did their best to push Reps. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Jeff Landry (R-La.) out, while a commission in Iowa did what commissions do and overhauled the map to a significant degree.

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For the past decade, a spot in the California House delegation has been one of the coziest gigs in Congress, offering unparalleled job security for the state’s 53 Republicans and Democrats. Few incumbents have faced competitive races...

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Victory no longer is sweet for Republican Party interests that helped strip the Democratic-controlled Legislature of the right to draw political districts.

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As a congressman from Buffalo, Brian Higgins is usually on the receiving end of entreaties from high-powered lobbyists. But with state lawmakers in Albany and nationwide preparing to redraw their electoral districts, Mr. Higgins has turned the tables...

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An Oakland firm co-owned by UC Berkeley Statewide Database Center director Karin Mac Donald was chosen to redraw California's political districts under the direction of the new, voter-created independent redistricting commission.

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