Ruling May Reshuffle Politics of Region : Redistricting: The state Supreme Court decision is expected to generate new opportunities for aspiring officeholders. It also is likely to revive complaints that Latino voting strength is being fragmented.

New congressional and legislative boundaries adopted by the state Supreme Court on Monday promise to reshuffle the politicians representing Ventura County and bring fresh complaints that the plan dilutes Latino voting strength.

The new political lines, initially proposed in December and formally adopted Monday, have opened political opportunities for aspiring candidates and nudged at least one prominent politician to abandon his old political turf.

The new Assembly boundaries also divide the area’s Latino communities into three districts, prompting activists to pursue a federal court challenge on the grounds that the new political map violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

“We’re not happy with this plan at all,” said Marco Antonio Abarca, a voting rights activist and attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance in Oxnard.

“We have a corridor of Latino communities that goes from Port Hueneme and Oxnard to Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru,” he said. “This plan cuts us into three different Assembly districts and undercuts our influence.”

Abarca said county Latino leaders have joined the federal court challenge initiated by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The redistricting plan, he said, continues “a history in Ventura County of fragmenting the Latino community and keeping Latinos out of power. We want to be integrated into the process.”

The Supreme Court took over the state’s once-a-decade redistricting when the Legislature and Gov. Pete Wilson deadlocked on the issue. Initially, the court appointed a panel of three retired judges to sift through the material and draw new boundaries for Assembly, Senate and congressional districts.

On Monday, the court released a 36-page opinion adopting the so-called court masters’ plan with a few minor changes around the state--none of them in districts that touch Ventura County.

Unless the process is further delayed in federal court, the new political maps should unleash a quick series of announcements by politicians of all stripes.

Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita), Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) and others have indicated that they will announce their plans by the end of the week.

Candidates for legislative and congressional seats must file papers for election between Feb. 10 and March 6. The Republican and Democratic primaries are June 2.

In the weeks since the new political lines were proposed, a number of incumbents representing Ventura County have jockeyed for position to avoid contested primaries and to exploit political opportunities.

Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) decided to abandon his old political turf and move north to avoid a primary battle with his friend and protege Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley).

The two incumbents were tossed into the same congressional district under the redistricting plan. And Lagomarsino said it was the most “painful political decision” in his 34 years in public office.

Lagomarsino made the move at the urging of Gov. Pete Wilson and White House officials who offered their assistance in what was believed to be a sure rematch between Lagomarsino and state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara).

In late December, Hart announced that he would not run for Congress this year, partly to keep himself positioned to succeed Bill Honig as state superintendent of public instruction.

Despite the Republican maneuvering, Lagomarsino may face a Republican opponent in the 22nd Congressional District, which encompasses most of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Michael Huffington, a former Reagan Administration official and heir to a Houston oil fortune, is exploring the race with the help of a high-powered Republican consultant in Sacramento.

The decisions of incumbent state lawmakers are expected to trigger a chain reaction among other officeholders and political aspirants.

For example, Assemblywoman Wright said she intends to run for the new 19th Senate District if Sen. Davis announces his retirement or decides not to move. His house was cut out of the 19th District under the plan.

Davis, 75, recently underwent cancer surgery and is building a vacation home in Morro Bay.

Wright said if Davis decides to run in the 19th District, she will be forced into a primary contest with Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills) in the 38th Assembly District that straddles the Los Angeles County line.

If Davis bows out, sources say, Wright’s most likely Republican challenger will be Charles H. Jelloian of Northridge, the director of the private foundation that built the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

McClintock has been lining up endorsements to run for Congress in the 24th Congressional District that lumps Thousand Oaks with westernmost portions of Los Angeles County.

If McClintock makes the jump, the 37th Assembly District may attract Republican hopefuls, including Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi and investment adviser Alan Guggenheim of Newbury Park.

Although the districts may be subject to further challenge, six of the California Supreme Court justices joined the majority opinion, which ruled that the districts follow all of the requirements of the Voting Rights Act.

In the opinion, the justices pointed to the political boundaries in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties as examples of districts that properly balance all of the federal requirements.

“For example, the Masters were unwilling to form a district requested by MALDEF linking Hispanic populations in Santa Barbara and Oxnard by means of a narrow connecting corridor around Ventura along a mountain range separating Ventura and Ojai,” the opinion said.

If the masters had done so, they would have violated federal law that requires districts to be compact and contain contiguous geographic areas.

In addition, the court majority said the masters were wise to reject a proposal to increase the concentration of Latino voters in a Senate district by drawing lines that connect Oxnard to heavily Latino cities in Santa Barbara County.

Such a district, the majority wrote, would have created voting rights problems in Central California. It would have diluted Latino voters in Monterey with predominantly white San Luis Obispo County, and Monterey comes under close scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department because of past discriminatory practices.

“The masters’ choice was a reasonable one under the circumstances,” the opinion said.

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New Assembly, State Senate and Congressional Districts

These are the new legislative and congressional boundaries adopted by the California Supreme Court. The districts were designed to reflect population shifts reported in the 1990 Census.

Congressional District 24 extends into Los Angeles County, including Malibu, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and part of Los Angeles city.

Congressional Districts

Dist. No. Dem. Rep. Anglo Latino Black Asian Cong. 23 43% 45% 62% 30% 3% 5% Cong. 24 45% 45% 78% 13% 2% 6% Dist. No. Dem. Rep. Anglo Latino Black Asian Cong. 23 43% 45% 62% 30% 3% 5% Cong. 24 45% 45% 78% 13% 2% 6%

Senate District 18 also includes all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Senate District 19 also includes part of western Los Angeles County, including Santa Clarita and part of the city of Los Angeles.

Senate Districts

Dist. No. Dem. Rep. Anglo Latino Black Asian Sen. 18 42% 44% 72% 22% 2% 3% Sen. 19 40% 49% 66% 24% 3% 7%

Assembly District 35 extends west to include most of Santa Barbara County.

Assembly District 38 extends east and includes parts of Los Angeles County, Santa Clarita and the city of Los Angeles.

Assembly Districts

Dist. No. Dem. Rep. Anglo Latino Black Asian Assem. 35 44% 42% 71% 24% 1% 3% Assem. 37 41% 47% 59% 31% 3% 6% Assem. 38 40% 50% 72% 16% 3% 9%

Note: Two Assembly districts constitute one Senate district

Sources: Race and ethnicity: California Supreme Court Special Masters for Reapportionment.

Party registration: California Assembly District boundaries: Strategic Mapping Inc.