"When California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50 on Tuesday, they set in motion political and possibly legal maneuvers that will ultimately determine whether its overt purpose, increasing Democratic congressional members by five or more seats, becomes reality. The first is a political scramble among politicians in both parties to determine who will run where in next year's congressional elections. Ambitious Democrats are lining up to run in the newly gerrymandered districts, some of which have been tailored to favor particular candidates."
"The most obvious example is a district that stretches from the heavily Republican northeastern corner of the state to the northern suburbs of San Francisco, seemingly made to order for Mike McGuire, the outgoing president pro tem of the state Senate. In creating that district, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature aim to unseat Republican Doug LaMalfa, who now represents northeastern California in Congress."
Proposition 50 redraws California's congressional map to increase Democratic representation by five or more seats. Ambitious Democrats are lining up to run in newly created districts, with some maps tailored to favor particular candidates. One district links the Republican northeastern corner to northern San Francisco suburbs, apparently designed for Mike McGuire and intended to unseat Republican Doug LaMalfa. If successful, the plan would shrink Republican districts from nine to four, forcing some incumbents to retire or compete against each other. The maps' impact depends on whether they are used next year or altered by courts. The timing overlaps a Texas gerrymander and a Supreme Court case involving the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting procedures that deny or abridge citizens' voting rights on account of race or color.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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