Jack Santucci at The Democratic Piece says: As the 2010 US census nears, redistricting and reapportionment enter the news. CMC’s Rose Institute has pulled together a handful of snippets concerned with redistricting reform. For others, the apportionment question is equally interesting. How will 435 House seats be reshuffled among states whose relative populations have changed?… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Redistricting
End-O-Year Redistricting Mentions
Whether looking forward or looking backward, redistricting came up a few times around the first of the year. Press-Enterprise Enterprise editorial: —Redistricting reform. Letting the Legislature draw political districts serves politicians, not voters. Legislators focus on self-protection and partisan gain, at the expense of representative democracy. Taking reapportionment out of the politicians’ hands and giving… Continue Reading
The New Political Geography of California
Dan Walters’ column in the Sac Bee is adapted from a chapter in The New Political Geography of California, published by Berkeley Public Policy Press and edited by Rose Institute Fellow Kenneth P. Miller: When Bush and other Republicans were winning in the 1980s, they relied on what Republican strategists called the “fishhook.” Rural counties… Continue Reading
Census 2010: Texas Wins; California Loses? UPDATED
The above graphic and the quote below are from Sam Roberts’ article in the New York Times on the U.S. Census’ latest population estimates (see the press release and data). If nearly decade-long trends endure, Texas will gain as many as four Congressional seats and Florida’s delegation will grow by two, while New York and… Continue Reading
Republicans and the Voter’s FIRST Initiative
Thus far Ted Costa as well as Reps. Devin Nunes and Kevin McCarthy have come out against the Voter’s First redistricting reform initiative while, along with the Governor, the conservative California Republican Assembly has voiced support. Today Mike Schroeder, a former Chairman of the California Republican Party and prominent Orange County Republican, supports the measure… Continue Reading
Dr. Rossum on the Gerrymandering Hall of Shame
The Rose Institute’s “Gerrymandering Hall of Shame” simply provides maps of California Assembly, Senate, and Congressional districts in 1991 and 2001. By looking at these maps, one can easily see how these districts changed because of the bipartisan gerrymandering of the state legislature in 2001. A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento, Bill Cavala… Continue Reading
Redistricting Roundup
Republican Reps. Devin Nunes of Visalia and Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield just got approval from the FEC to “raise cash in $20,000 chunks to oppose” the Voter’s FIRST redistricting reform initiative, as Michael Doyle’s recent Sacramento Bee article reports: “The threshold question is whether the funds are in connection with an election for federal office,”… Continue Reading
Bill Cavala and the Redistricting Hall of Fame
My thanks to Bill Cavala for highlighting the Rose Institute’s “Redistricting Hall of Shame” website. Mr. Cavala clearly considers the maps posted on that site noteworthy enough to make it the latest target in his series of anti-reform columns. In our gallery of 18 districts, Bill only takes issue with one, AD 7. And he… Continue Reading
CRA: Another Step for Voters First
The California Voters First effort put in place a significant piece of its election puzzle with the nearly unanimous endorsement of the California Republican Assembly. This endorsement highlights the grassroots nature of this effort: while the party leaders on both sides hold back, the grassroots are getting riled up. This measure’s “Six Steps to Independence”… Continue Reading
“Californians call shots, set agenda in the 110th”
So runs the title of Jonathan E. Kaplan’s article in The Hill: Californians have “infiltrated all the different power centers in the House so they heavily influence the dialogue,†former Democratic Whip Tony Coelho (Calif.) said. *** The Bay Area Californians have known each other their entire professional lives from having served in the California… Continue Reading