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MyspaceBye-bye, “Ribbon of Shame,” hello, year 2000.
At least that’s what the Citizens Redistricting Commission said Friday morning with its release of first draft redistricting maps for various legislative areas in California. The preliminary maps show a significant change to Representative Lois Capps’s 23rd Congressional District, which includes Santa Barbara, but statistics reveal the district will still lean Democrat.
Take a look at all the maps here.
The 23rd would embody much of the same area as that of the 22nd (which Capps represented before the 2001 round of redistricting), mainly San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties, along with some of inland Ventura County. The 23rd as it currently sits is widely known as the “Ribbon of Shame,” an example used around the country of a gerrymandered district designed to keep political strongholds, well, strong.
“I would bet it was the most gerrymandered district in the country,” said former lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado, who has set his sights on running against Capps in 2012. The district snakes along California’s central coastline from Oxnard all the way up to the Monterey County border, and is extremely narrow in some parts. As far as numbers go, the district would shift from having a Democratic advantage of 12 percentage points to 4 percentage points.
“Representing the Central Coast in Congress is a distinct honor and great responsibility, and I am looking forward to running for reelection in the Central Coast’s congressional district,” Capps said in a statement. “Regardless of where the final lines fall, I will be running a strong grassroots campaign, emphasizing my work to create jobs, protect Medicare from those who are trying to privatize it, preserve our coastline and environment, and get our long terms fiscal house in order.”
In February, Maldonado announced he filed papers to face off against Capps in the 2012 election. He said the proposed map means the district should be competitive next year. “There needs to be good competition,” he said, explaining that a contest forces politicians to focus on their constituencies more. “It’s going to be a good race.”
Paul Wellman (file)
Elton Gallegly
Meanwhile, the remapping could spell trouble for 13-term Congressmember Elton Gallegly. Under the first draft, the 24th District — which currently takes up many of the inland portions of Santa Barbara County and extends to Thousand Oaks and Camarillo — shifts from leaning Republican to leaning Democrat. David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report named Gallegly as one of the four biggest losers in the proposals. The district would shift from one that leans Republican by 6 percentage points to one that leans Democrat by 5.
The 35th Assembly District, now represented by Das Williams, will look different, with a slide down to include more of Ventura County. He still would represent Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Goleta, and Lompoc, and his district would remain a Dem stronghold, with a 46 percent to 28 percent advantage in registration.
Paul Wellman (file)
Das Williams
“Here locally, our coastal communities share a very unique economy and coastline,” Williams said in a statement. “The commission has taken community input very seriously and I applaud their effort to keep our communities intact so we can continue to be a united voice for the coastline and strengthen our regional economy. This is essential to making progress when it comes to job creation, making the right infrastructure improvements, education and a host of other issues. We need to have a district that reflects our economic connectivity — that means keeping these coastal communities together.”
Indeed, the commission — made up of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four unaffiliated members — didn’t think about politics as it worked to draw districts, instead focusing on geographic and common sense boundaries as well as communities of interest.
According to reports, 51 Assembly seats would be considered safe for Democrats, 24 for Republicans, and five in the swing category.
The proposed maps head back to the public for more comment, and the commission will have another series of meetings to go over them. The closest they will come to Santa Barbara is a trip to Oxnard on June 22. The deadline to make an official map is August 15.
Previous Month
Comments
The current 23rd is only moderately gerrymandered... from the perspective of common interests of those who live near the beach, it makes a lot of sense.
A truly gerrymandered district is the 20th in California... tiny little peninsulas extending into Fresno and Bakersfield. I like Abel Maldonado most of the the time, but in this case he comes off as ignorant.
Interesting how the 24th also favored Gallegly through Gerrymandering too... just so much depopulated space that it doesn't appear that way.
pardallchewinggumspot (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 9:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Goodbye, Ribbon of Shame! Goodbye, Lois (the Pelosi Parrott) Capps.
JohnLocke (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Surprisingly, the maps look good. The common interests of the Southern California coastal communities (the beach towns rock!) has been allowed to be cohesive. The 23rd and 24th silliness is repaired and it appears as if the Republican safe seat got the worst of the demise of the "ribbon." Who would have thought that would be the outcome? Blakeslee will have to moderate his politics to attract voters in Santa Cruz and Monterey. Das will keep his seat if he plays his cards right. Lois Capps has a fight on her hands, but only if the Republicans put forward a moderate. Strickland and Gallegly are out unless they take up surfing and get religion on saving our schools and coastal environmental resources, and even then it is unlikely that either or those new districts would elect a Republican. I especially like the fact the 19th State Senate District and the 35th State Assembly District are very similar, which will give us some opportunities for Assembly/Senate synergy and clout in Sacramento.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 1:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
oh yea...a Spanish language debate would really bring out those north sb county republican supporters.......
wait a minute? Didn't Mayor Lavagnino support Capps in the last race? doesn't sound much like dislike to me........Capps fought hard for the SM Levee
sbsleuth99 (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maldonado would give Capps a run for her money. But first he has to get the right wing of the Republican Party to vote for him in the primary. That will be his first big challenge. Lois is not a fire-breathing liberal and can get votes across a broad spectrum of voters. It will be interesting if the Republicans can hold their collective noses and put forward a middle of the road candidate. They don't have a great track record in that regard.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Lois is not a fire-breathing liberal"??? Yeah, and Pelosi is a right winger, too.
JohnLocke (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 4:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Maldonado should challenge Capps to a debate in Spanish. Lois claims to care about Hispanics. Let's see if she can speak their language"
This brings to mind something I've been asking myself: I wonder how many of these people who claim it's racist not to provide bilingual services have taken the trouble (excepting those who grew up speaking Spanish) to learn Spanish?
In other words, if one doesn't speak Spanish, yet supports programs/services that ensure Spanish-speakers don't learn English, than these people are making it clear they have no desire to interact with those about whom they claim to be concerned.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
New rules in the 2012 "primary" and general elections.
New district lines for Congress, State Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization.
Two top vote getters in the "primary" or June election results run against each other in the general. All June voters get same ballot with all the candidates names. No more Democratic or Republican primary ballots. Candidates no longer have to identify their political party affiliation. These changes will alter the physics of the elections in ways that are not yet understood. The "Decline to State" or what are sometimes called "Independent" voters will play a much more important role in the "primary" then they ever have before.
pedronava (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 7:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To say that Maldonado is popular with Hispanics is dead wrong. Most hispanics vote Democrat down the line no matter whose name is on the ballot. You can thank Pete Wilson for that. Maldonado may have some clout in Santa Maria since he is from there, but to assume that he would instantly win over hispanic voters from Lois Capps is dead wrong. The republican party is dead in California and this new redistricting is the nail in the coffin.
Chato (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 8:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Lois Capps is in real trouble. She is disliked in North SB County and unknown in SLO."
-- bigt
Doesn't the article say Capps used to represent parts of SLO County before 2001?
EastBeach (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 8:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Capps is not at all unknown in SLO county since part of her district included the coastal cities/towns of SLO, and SLO itself, up to the Monterey Co. line. She may not be known well in inland SLO county.
at_large (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 9:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, John Locke, since I am a fire breathing liberal, I should know one when I see one, and Lois does not qualify. Nancy, on the other hand does, but she and Lois are not even in the same color band on the spectrum. With regard to the new open primary rules, it will be interesting to see how it all works out. It may appear that the primaries could be dominated by independents under such rules, except that independents have not traditionaly voted widely in primaries or mid-term elections. It will be interesting to see if the new open primary rules get the independents out of bed and away from the internet long enough to vote in the primaries. It will also be interesting to see for whom they vote. 2012 will be curiouser and curiouser as the year marches on.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
June 11, 2011 at 9:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Relevant article in today's LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-...
It will be interesting to see if the dominant Republican hardliners really do make way for more moderates within their party. Maldonado is one of the few examples I know of.
EastBeach (anonymous profile)
June 12, 2011 at 12:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
More or less a Capps v. Moldanado election would be a no lose proposition... both are good.
But what was up with Moldanado and his tax delinquency?
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/...
pardallchewinggumspot (anonymous profile)
June 12, 2011 at 3:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tax evasion! Typical of rich folk. The whole Republican agenda is to protect rich folk from paying their share of the tax burden. It's ok to hate paying. It's a crime to not pay. In case my Republican friends need to be reminded, the deal is: You get to be rich and have your private property protected from the mob and in turn you pay taxes that go to the public welfare. That's the deal. Without the deal, the mob gets to have its will with your property. So let's all just pay our taxes and life is good. Don't be cheapskates!
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
June 12, 2011 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)