Plan Deletes Sen. Green, Clusters Minorities : Politics: Latino voters from Placentia and Anaheim would be part of a ‘minority-influenced’ state Senate district. Bergeson could be a big winner by creation of a compact coastal jurisdiction.

Orange County will lose its only Democratic senator but may compensate for that by consolidating Latino voters from Placentia and Anaheim into a “minority-influenced” state Senate district, according to a preliminary reapportionment plan released Wednesday.

The bipartisan plan for the Legislature’s upper house is the first indication of how population shifts and power grabs will play out in the once-in-a-decade exercise of redrawing political boundaries in Sacramento.

In Orange County, the effect will be much like a game of musical chairs: Sen. Cecil N. Green (D-Norwalk) loses his seat altogether, and the Republicans make adjustments in their conservative territories.

Among the big winners is Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), whose far-flung district currently stretches from tony Newport Beach to impoverished Calexico in Imperial County.

The proposed plan would redraw her district to drop rural areas in Imperial and northeastern San Diego counties and to include the Orange County coast--a political perch that insiders consider an ideal springboard to Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley’s seat when he retires.

But Bergeson wasn’t the only one smiling Wednesday.

“Every good Republican state senator in Orange County has a good district, a district that will reelect them handily,” said Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange).

The Senate plan is actually the first of four to be released by state lawmakers, who have until the end of the session on Sept. 13 to produce new maps for the Assembly, Congress and State Board of Equalization, as well. The remaining maps are expected to be released next week.

In unveiling their plan Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tempore David A. Robert (D-Los Angeles) and Republican leader Ken Maddy of Fresno stressed that the new Senate district boundaries--each surrounding about 744,000 residents--are still subject to public hearing and potential lawsuits.

But they said their guiding concerns were to follow statewide population trends and the mandates of the federal Voting Rights Act, which requires reapportionment schemes to maintain or strengthen minority voting power.

Both of those forces will cause changes in the landscape of Orange County’s Senate delegation. Among them:

The loss of Green as Orange County’s sole Democrat in the Senate. Green’s 33rd District embraced such working-class cities in Orange County as Cypress, La Palma, Los Alamitos and Buena Park but was made up predominantly of southeastern Los Angeles County communities.

But it failed to keep pace with California’s 26% growth over the past decade, and now Senate leaders want to “collapse” it by moving the seat to the burgeoning Republican enclave along Interstate 15 in San Diego and Riverside counties.

“I’m not happy with what’s being done . . . ,” Green said Wednesday. “Would you be thrilled if your (political) base was gone?”

Efforts to increase “minority influence” in the 32nd Senate District, held by Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim), who is currently running for Congress.

Senate leaders want to add Latino areas of Placentia, Orange and Anaheim to Royce’s seat, boosting the Latino population from 27% to 44%. He would keep Fullerton, Santa Ana and Stanton but lose La Habra, Garden Grove, Westminster and two voters in Buena Park. Reapportionment would also put Disneyland and Anaheim Stadium into Royce’s district.

Senate Republican leader Maddy said he believes that the increased Latino presence would probably mean a Democrat would take over the Royce seat in the “long run,” but Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) disagreed.

“As long as you keep Anaheim and Santa Ana in Royce’s district, it stays Republican because the Hispanics don’t vote . . . and half of Anaheim and Santa Ana is staunchly conservative,” he said.

* Hill’s 31st District would be shifted to lose Placentia, Yorba Linda and southern Orange County. It would then pick up portions forfeited by Cecil Green, dropping overall Republican registration from 54% to 48%. Democratic registration would grow from 35% to 43%.

“It’s still very Republican and very conservative,” said Hill, whose district also embraces much of southeast Los Angeles County. But another Republican senator said Hill “wound up with something he’s not happy about, but I suspect he will (politically) survive.”

* Lewis’ 35th District in Central Orange County would creep eastward, over the county line into Riverside County to take in portions of conservative Corona. He gives up more liberal Irvine, Huntington Beach and minority areas of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange.

* Creating an Orange County “coastal” district by adding San Clemente, Irvine, portions of Laguna Niguel, and the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to Bergeson’s 37th Senate seat, which will now stretch along the ocean from Los Angeles Countyto San Diego County.

Much of the new area overlaps with the current supervisorial district represented by Riley--and Hill said it is no coincidence.

“Her wanting to be a supervisor, that’s clearly the reason for that,” Hill said, linking speculation over Bergeson’s political ambitions and her new Senate lines. “Riley is 79 years old, and if something happens she can be appointed.”

But Bergeson said “that’s not the intent of any of the line-drawing,” adding that she wanted a “compact” district because it makes sense.

“I don’t have to take an airplane if I want to visit one of my other offices,” said Bergeson, who often complained to colleagues about her long trips to Imperial County.

And Royce said Bergeson--who lost the statewide bid for lieutenant governor in November--wouldn’t need any Senate-related gerrymandering to help her land a spot on the Board of Supervisors.

“Her support (in Orange County) is so widespread that whether Marian Bergeson represented any of Riley’s district or not, when he retires and if she should decide to run it’s a foregone conclusion that she would win that outright,” he said.

Shifting Districts

A proposed bipartisan reapportionment for the state Senate would alter the boundaries of Orange County’s four districts, but would remain predominantly Republican.

Senate District 31 Frank Hill (R-Whittier) Retains: Whittier, Brea, Diamond Bar, La Mirada, Hacienda Heights and portions of West Covina Adds: Buena Park, Cerritos, La Habra, Cypress, Los Alamitos, Downey and portions of Lakewood and Bellflower Loses: Placentia, Yorba Linda, Anaheim and southern Orange County Population: 743,139 Voter Registrations:

1990 Current Democratic 42.5 35.2 Republican 48.2 54.5 Decline to state 7.6 8.7

Ethnicity:

1990 White 56.1 Latino 24.2 Black 3.7 Asian/Pacific Islander 15.5

Senate District 32 Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim) Retains: Fullerton, Santa Ana, Stanton Adds: Placentia and a portion of Anaheim Loses: La Habra, Garden Grove, Westminster and a portion of Buena Park Population: 743,323 Voter Registrations:

1990 Current Democratic 41.2 42.3 Republican 49.0 48.4 Decline to state 7.8 7.4

Ethnicity:

1990 White 43.6 Latino 44.3 Black 2.3 Asian/Pacific Islander 9.3

Senate District 35 John Lewis (R-Garden Grove) Retains: Anaheim, Orange, Villa Park, Tustin, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Westminster and Garden Grove Adds: Corona, Yorba Linda and portions of above cities Loses: Portions of Irvine, Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange Population: 743,098 Voter Registrations:

1990 Current Democratic 33.2 Republican 56.4 56.9 Decline to state 8.4 8.9

Ethnicity:

1990 White 67.2 Latino 17.6 Black 1.5 Asian/Pacific Islander 13.2

Senate District 37 Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) Retains: Costal Orange County Adds: Inland southern Orange County Loses: Portions of Imperial, San Diego and Riverside counties Population: 745,474 Voter Registrations:

1990 Current Democratic 29.1 32.9 Republican 59.8 56.7 Decline to state 9.4 8.5

Ethnicity:

1990 White 82.3 Latino 9.3 Black 1.1 Asian/Pacific Islander 6.9