The Politics of Map-Making

The best that can be said about the redrawing of the state’s political map is it comes along only once a decade, to reflect population changes in the new census. Consider the havoc that the Legislature is wreaking on the districts of Reps. Steve Horn (R-Long Beach) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) through the congressional redistricting plan now before the state Legislature.

Horn’s 38th district disappears. Most of Long Beach falls into the 37th district of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson). The southern slice of Long Beach, including the port and the Queen Mary, goes into Rohrabacher’s 45th, which is stretched along the coast from Costa Mesa north all the way to Palos Verdes Estates.

Rohrabacher also gets the Port of Los Angeles, severing it from its natural affiliation with the rest of San Pedro. Finally, a new district, solidly Democratic and labeled the 53rd for now, is a U-shaped monster that begins at the Huntington Park line on the east, curves down through Hawaiian Gardens and Lakewood and then up on the west to South Gate.

The same sort of gerrymandering occurs in the state Senate and Assembly plans as well--all in the name of party politics, to keep as many incumbent Republicans and Democrats happy as possible. In many places Democratic districts are made more safely Democratic and GOP seats more safely Republican.

As a result, the plans shatter the concepts of community of interest and compactness of districts, with a few exceptions, and largely thwart the desires of Latinos and Asian Americans to win additional seats in Congress and the Legislature. The redistricting planners have a responsibility to do better as they consider possible revisions over the weekend.

The goal of the map drafters, this year as in previous years, already is skewed. The goal is not to ensure fair and better representation for voters. It is to preserve the status quo; this year that means all 32 present Democratic House seats and the 20 Republican chairs while allowing Democrats to pick up the new 53rd seat. The plan also maintains the Democrats’ 26-14 control of the state Senate and their 50-30 margin in the Assembly.

Everyone knew that Democrats could draw the districts at will for the next 10 years since they control both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office. But they could not really stretch the lines to pick up more seats without inviting a legal challenge that probably would succeed. By keeping the GOP content, they hope to pass the plans by a two-thirds vote in each house so the measures cannot be subject to a referendum.

But Steve Horn, a moderate Republican, didn’t fare so well. His district was trending Democratic, so it was wiped out altogether and re-created in that unique U-shaped design, drawn to be won by a Latino candidate. The pragmatic Horn doesn’t expect his district to be resurrected this weekend. He’s already announced his retirement.

That’s politics, folks.