A November 6th article in the Whittier Daily News quoted Rose Institute Fellow Douglas Johnson discussing how the passing of Proposition 20 will affect San Gabriel Valley in the upcoming redistricting process. Proposition 20 creates an independent citizen’s commission to draw Congressional district boundaries.
Johnson says, “in Southern California we definitely have very red neighborhoods and very blue neighborhoods. Gerrymandering has concentrated them into separate districts.” Johnson argues that gerrymandering has produced a failed system Republicans and Democrats are each packed into separate districts so that the incumbent only has to appeal to the voters in his or her own party, leading to increased partisanship.
The article quotes Johnson as saying that, “when change swept the nation, incumbents here were protected.” He says, “when a 20 percent shift in voter opinion isn’t enough to displace a member, that is a problem.”
Johnson also points out that the San Gabriel Valley region has suffered because it has been split into six different congressional districts that are often based outside of the region, diminishing the power of San Gabriel Valley residents.
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