Democrats Rail Against Redistricting Plans

It wasn’t the 85-degree heat or the hot platters of barbecue that had Ventura County Democrats steaming Monday.

Gathered for their annual Labor Day picnic, the party faithful took turns railing against a proposed redistricting plan they say is no favor to local Democrats.

Most frustrating, they said, is that the damage is not being done by Republicans. The Democrat-controlled Legislature proposed last week a new set of district lines for all seats in the Assembly, state Senate and Congress.

So the locals talked of rebellion--letter-writing campaigns, a barrage of e-mails to Democratic leaders and plans to caravan to a public hearing Wednesday to protest the changes.

“I’m going to start by taking off my coat,” said Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), as she removed a white blazer and took the microphone at Conejo Creek Park in Thousand Oaks. “Because that’s how you start a fight, isn’t it?”

Much of their ire was focused on changes to the 18th state Senate District, now held by departing Democrat Jack O’Connell, but also the prize Jackson has been eyeing for herself.

Under proposed new boundaries, the Santa Barbara and Ventura coastal areas would fall under a vastly reconfigured district that favors state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks).

Those changes would likely end 30 years of progressive Democratic leadership of the coastal communities, handing them over to one of the state Legislature’s most conservative lawmakers, Jackson said. Democrats have been good guardians of the coastal environment, she said. But that is about to change, Jackson told the crowd of about 200.

“There is not a more extreme, radical, right-wing person in the Legislature. Do you want that for your children?” Jackson thundered, with the crowd yelling back, “No!” Jackson said the changes are intended to solidify the base for powerful Los Angeles incumbents. Democratic state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, for instance, will gain a party registration edge by adding Oxnard and Port Hueneme to her Santa Monica-based district.

But the new political boundaries favor Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark) for reelection and appear to give Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) such a huge edge in Republican registration that he will be virtually unbeatable.

Jackson, whose district includes Ventura, Ojai and Santa Paula, chastised state Sen. John Burton (D-San Francisco) and other Democratic leaders for treating Ventura County Democrats “like second-class citizens.”

“They made a deal with the Republicans, and they saw us as expendable--and we’re not,” Jackson said.

McClintock could not be reached for comment Monday. Ventura lawyer Michael Case attempted tounseat Gallegly last year, when party registration in the 23rd Congressional District was roughly equal.

The proposed changes give Gallegly an 11% edge in Republican voters, said Case, who lost by nearly 13 percentage points. National Democratic leaders will look at the numbers and refuse to spend money on a lost cause, Case predicted.

“It looks like the party just decided it had to sacrifice somewhere,” he said, “and Ventura County became the sacrifice.”

Several local Democrats said they would travel to Valley College in Van Nuys on Wednesday for a 9 a.m. hearing by teleconference.

But for all of the tough talk, many Democrats privately wondered whether their appeals were futile.

In a sign of acceptance, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) dropped by to introduce herself. Under the new proposal, Pavley would pick up constituents in Port Hueneme and Oxnard.