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2008
Gerrymandering The Vote: How A “Dirty
Dozen” States Suppress As Many As 9 Million Voters
Democratic Leadership Council
June 2008
Editorial: Perata's Power Play
San Francisco Chronicle
June 30, 2008
Democrats Fear Redistricting Measure Would
Curb Their Power In State
San Francisco Chronicle
June 27, 2008
Election-Map Initiative Helps Voters, State
Progress
Sacramento Bee
June 27, 2008
Politics And California Redistricting
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 27, 2008
Millions On Line In Ballot Drives
Sacramento Bee
June 24, 2008
Democratic Leaders Accused Of Pressuring
Supporters Of Redistricting Measure
Contra Costa Times Sacramento Bureau
June 21, 2008
California Is Branded Among A 'Dirty
Dozen' On Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2008
Redistricting In California: Control or
Democracy?
CaliorniaProgressReport.com
June 19, 2008
Changing Method Of Redistricting Makes
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
June 18, 2008
Government Reformer Down On Redistricting
Initiative
PolitickerCA.com
June 18, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Makes California
Ballot
San Jose Mercury News
June 17, 2008
Democratic Party Takes Stands On Ballot
Measures
CaliforninaMajorityReport.com
June 17, 2008
Cavala: Republicans Kill Reform Bill That
Hurts GOP Chances While Democrats Support 'Reform' That Hurts Their Chances
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 9, 2008
Speaking With The New Speaker
Los Angeles Times
June 2, 2008
Two Plans Created To Reform Districts
Modesto Bee
May 19, 2008
New Speaker Should Focus On Public
Interest
Los Angeles Daily News
May 13, 2008
Why Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan
Won't Work
California Majority Report.com
May 13, 2008
Tony Quinn: Redistricting Reform OK, But
It's Only A Start
Sacramento Bee
May 11, 2008
Governor May Face Donor Fatigue
Contra Costa Times
May 11, 2008
California Redistricting Plan Faces Hurdles
Capitol Weekly
May 7, 2008
Dan Walters: Competing Proposals For Remap
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
Initiative On Redistricting Closer To
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nunez Pushes Ethics Plan As Rival Petitions
Are Filed
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
To Get Leadership Reform, We First Need
Redistricting
Los Angeles Daily News
May 1, 2008
Good Intentions Could Harm Redistricting
Ballot Measure
Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2008
Redistricting On Track To Qualify,
Consultant Says
New America Foundation.com
April 23, 2008
Why Are GOP Contributors Putting Big Money
Into Redistricting Reform?
California Progress Report.com
April 19, 2008
Gov's
Giving To Remap Measure Tops $1 million
Sacramento Bee Capital Alert
April 21, 2008
‘Due
Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
April 20, 2008
Opinion: Seeing The Light
Los Angeles Daily News
April 19, 2008
California
Voters FIRST Presents A Balanced And Bipartisan Effort For Redistricting
Reform
California Progress Report.com
April 17, 2008
Schwarzenegger's
Redistricting Plan Comes Under Fire
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2008
Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
The Need For Redistricting Reform From
This California Democrat’s Perspective
California Progress Report.com
April 4, 2008
Labor Says No To
Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause Redistricting Measure
The California Majority Report.com
April 02, 2008
Revenge In Attack On Legislative
Redistricting?
California Progress Report.com
March 31, 2008
Weintraub: Governor Gets Another Shot At
Redistricting Reform
Sacramento Bee
March 30, 2008
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
Walters: Voters Irate At Budget Posturing
Sacramento Bee
March 28, 2008
New Foundation To Campaign For More Efficient
California Government
Sacramento Bee
March 27, 2008
Editorial: California Voters Should Support
Redistricting Ballot Measure
Fresno Bee
March 24, 2008
Editorial: Redraw the Map
Los Angeles Daily News
March 22, 2008
Walters: Court Ruling Offers Hope to
Dysfunctional California Politics
Sacramento Bee
March 19, 2008
Supreme Court to Hear Major Redistricting
Case
The Thicket at State Legislatures (ncsl.com)
March 18, 2008
Editorial: Let Citizens Redraw the Map
The Torrance Daily Breeze
March 17, 2008
Walters: Redistrict Reformers Miss Mark
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
Let Citizens
Redraw Map
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 9, 2008
Governor Proposes Redistricting Ballot
Measure
North County Times
March 8, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Has Strong
Republican Backing
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 2008
Governor Gathers Signatures to Qualify
Redistricting Measure
San Jose Mercury News
March 4, 2008
Manipulative Lawmakers Playing To The Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 14, 2008
State Voters Need To Do What Lawmakers
Won't
Los Angeles Daily News
February 14, 2008
Editorial: What We Need In Sacramento,
Redistricting, Not Retaliation
San Jose Mercury News
February 14, 2008
Redistricting Reform, Not Longer Terms, Is
The Answer
California Republic.org
February 12, 2008
The Buzz: A Hardball Tactic Could Ricochet
Sacramento Bee
February 11, 2008
Wake Up, Sacramento Media! Wake Up! Wake
Up! Wake Up!
San Diego Union Tribune
February 8, 2008
Editorial: Passive Aggressive Lawmakers
Just Play to the Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 8, 2008
Nunez Takes Blame For Prop. 93 Loss
Los Angeles Daily News
February 7, 2008
Weingand: Voters Got A Whiff and Said 'No'
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Lawmakers Believe In Term Limits But
Oppose The Measure
North County Times
February 4, 2008
Good For Us
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
Commentary: A Conversation with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Sacramento Bee
January 20, 2008
Walters: Two Party Structure Under Fire
Sacramento Bee
January 18, 2008
Walters: Governor's Brownian Flip-Flops
Sacramento Bee
January 16, 2008
Editorial: Corruption of a Good Idea
San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2008
Governor Supports Term Limit Measure
Sacramento Bee
January 15, 2008
A Deceptive Prop. 93
San Francisco Chronicle
January 10, 2008
Use Prop. 93 To Say 'No"
dailybreeze.com
January 3, 2008
more
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Walters: Redistrict Reformers
Miss Mark
By Dan Walters, Bee Columnist
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
It's a given, or should be, that California's method of redrawing
legislative and congressional districts after a decennial census is
not only an affront to democracy. It has the real-world effect of
rendering the state Legislature even more dysfunctional than it
otherwise would be.
Over the past four decades, we've had two fair-minded
redistricting plans adopted by the state Supreme Court after
Democratic lawmakers and Republican governors deadlocked (1973 and
1991), one gerrymander designed by Democrats to solidify control of
the Legislature and the largest-in-the-nation congressional
delegation (1982), and one bipartisan gerrymander to freeze the
numerical status quo in both arenas (2001).
Steve Westly, the former Democratic state controller, captured
the situation the other day as he joined with Republican Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger to tout a redistricting reform initiative for the
November ballot.
"In the last election cycle, 80 Assembly seats, 20 Senate
seats, not one changed hands," Westly said. "The elections
were foregone conclusions. You had a better chance of losing a seat
as a member of the Supreme Soviet in Russia in the 1960s than you do
in the California state legislative elections today."
If successful, the Schwarzenegger-Westly drive, in conjunction
with a coalition of political reform organizations, would shift
redistricting of 120 legislative districts and four Board of
Equalization districts from the Legislature to a 14-member
commission that supposedly would be free of overt political or
partisan motives. Redrawing congressional districts would remain
with lawmakers.
It's not the first time anyone has tried to reform redistricting,
certainly. Countless reforms have been proposed over the years,
including several that reached the ballot – the last being
Schwarzenegger's own measure in 2005. But all were defeated after
massive opposition campaigns by politicians and interest groups that
preferred the status quo. It's fairly easy to campaign against a
redistricting reform measure by portraying it as some sort of
partisan or special interest power grab.
Over the last couple of years, Democratic legislative leaders
pledged to write a reform themselves, pairing it with a measure to
ease legislative term limits. When push came to shove, however, they
could not – or would not – buck their own party's major interest
groups, such as unions and Democratic congressional members.
Conceptually, Schwarzenegger, Westly and their allies should be
praised for taking on a difficult, if much needed, civic reform. A
case could be made that their reform would be better than the
erosive status quo. But the measure, which is now being circulated
for signatures, is seriously flawed and could have major adverse
consequences.
Leaving congressional seats in the hands of state lawmakers is
one flaw. With term limits still in place, legislators would be
sorely tempted to manufacture congressional districts for
themselves. That could mean stripping Republicans of as many as a
half-dozen districts to satisfy Democrats' career ambitions, as well
as bolstering Democratic control of Congress. If gerrymandering is
bad public policy, it's just as bad at the congressional level as it
is in the Legislature.
The semi-random manner in which the 14-member commission is to be
chosen is another disaster waiting to happen. We could easily wind
up with a commission that's incapable of grasping a very complex and
technical process and thus be easily swayed by outside experts
working for parties or political factions.
We had two fair redistricting rounds under the state Supreme
Court, so we know what works well. We should be emulating what
happened in 1973 and 1991 rather than reinventing a complicated
wheel with unknown consequences.
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