Sen. Dills Says He’ll Enter Race for Greene’s District

Veteran state Sen. Ralph C. Dills, whose career has appeared threatened by redistricting, said Saturday that next year he plans to run in a newly redrawn district that would include his South Bay home.

In the proposed Senate redistricting plan, the seat that the Democratic lawmaker has represented is being shifted out of the South Bay and reshaped so that he would no longer live within its boundaries.

With his 30th District being radically redrawn, questions were raised about whether Dills, 81, could hang on to the district, which would stretch far outside his Gardena political base, reaching into strongly Latino areas in the San Gabriel Valley.

Dills said that next year he would seek the Democratic nomination in the 27th District, now represented by Sen. Bill Greene (D-Los Angeles). Greene, citing health problems, last week announced he would retire next year.

“I have no alternative” except to seek Greene’s seat, Dills said in an interview. He noted that his Harbor Gateway home would be in the new 27th District.

First elected to the Senate in 1966, Dills last year easily won a new four-year term. Even if he runs for Greene’s seat and loses, Dills would still have two years remaining on that term.

Dills’ plan hinges on the outcome of the once-a-decade redrawing of legislative boundaries to conform to population changes. While the Senate appears to have negotiated a bipartisan redistricting plan, the Assembly has yet to reach agreement. Both houses are seeking to approve new boundaries by the end of the week.

But whether the plans become law is uncertain. Gov. Pete Wilson could veto the legislation, and Latino groups could go to court to ensure their voting strength is not diluted.

With an eye toward Latino grievances, the Senate has proposed making Dills’ 30th District 78.3% Latino. The South Bay no longer would be included in the district, which would stretch from Paramount to Alhambra.

That proposal has prompted Dills to shift his attention to Greene’s district, even though Senate line-drawers have figured it would continue to elect a black lawmaker. Of the 27th District’s 746,000 residents, 45% would be Latinos and 41.3% blacks--but blacks tend to vote in higher percentages than Latinos.

Dills, who is white, maintained that he would have a good shot at the seat because it would include 300,000 of his current constituents.