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In September, 2001, the California State Legislature approved and the Governor signed a plan for redistricting California’s Congressional and State Legislative seats. The plan made significant changes to a few House seats, but left the current scheme largely in place for the vast majority of districts, those of both Democrats and Republicans. With the exception of Rep. Steve Horn, every serving California Member of Congress was given a relatively clear district in which to run, and most found party registration stronger for the incumbent.

Two primarily new, incumbent-less House districts were created, one in the Central Valley and one in Los Angeles County. Significant re-mapping is proposed for Northern California, particularly near Sacramento, as well as the Central Valley and portions of the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.

Many Southern California Congressional Districts were renumbered, as the State Constitution requires that districts are numbered consecutively from North to South. With the creation of a new 21st District in and around Tulare County, most Members of Congress south of there are expected to run in districts numbered one higher than that of their current district. For district-by-district details and maps, see http://www.assembly.ca.gov/committee/c7/cngplan3/newtextdocument.html . District numbers used in this document refer generally to the 107th Congress; many will change in the 108th Congress.

The plan added southern Yolo County to Rep. Mike Thompson’s 1st District, but made no other change to that CD. The 2nd District, represented by Rep. Wally Herger, retained Chico, Redding, and the Counties of Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou, but saw its southern portion shift from the Nevada border counties to the central portion of the Sacramento Valley currently included in the 3rd District. The areas formerly in the southeastern 2nd District (Plumas, Sierra, Yuba and Nevada Counties) moved to Rep. John Doolittle’s 4th District, which thus shifted northward and incorporate only Placer and El Dorado Counties from the former 4th District.

The 3rd District, represented by Rep. Doug Ose, which formerly ran northwest of Sacramento to Red Bluff, was redrawn to encompass Sacramento’s northern, eastern and southern suburbs and to range from the Nevada border (Alpine County) in the east through Solano County’s border with Napa County in the west. In the process, Republican registration increases by 5% to 44%.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, district remappers at first shifted Rep. Ellen Tauscher’s 10th District northward to incorporate Fairfield and parts of Dixon and Vacaville, retaining Livermore to the south, as well as Walnut Creek and parts of Pleasant Hill, but stretching westward to include El Cerrito in the East Bay. After alteration later in the process by the State Senate, the 10th District was further redrawn to return to it Orinda and Moraga, linking them once again with Lafayette, Walnut Creek and other towns to the east. To offset the population shifts, the communities of Discovery Bay and Brentwood along the Contra Costa County – San Joaquin County border was shifted from the 10th to the 11th District, now represented by Rep. Richard Pombo. In addition, the change shifts more territory to the south and east of Livermore (south to the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct) to the from the 11th to the 10th.

Rep. Barbara Lee’s 9th District grew southward, incorporating Castro Valley and inland areas near San Leandro. Rep. Pete Stark’s 13th District in turn picked up a stretch of land along the San Francisco Bay as far north as the Alameda Naval Air Station. The 16th District, represented by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, moves slightly westward near central San Jose, while Rep. Mike Honda’s 15th District elongates north to Milpitas and south to Gilroy, shedding Saratoga and its Pacific coast stretch of Santa Cruz County. That portion moved to Rep. Anna Eshoo’s 14th District, which will stretch from Redwood City on the Bay to Half Moon Bay on the Pacific, then south through Saratoga and Scotts Valley to territories just west of Santa Cruz and just north of Watsonville.

Some of the 3rd District’s suburban Sacramento voters were moved over from Rep. Pombo’s 11th District, which in turn moved westward to incorporate some or all of Danville, Dublin, Moraga, Pleasanton, Orinda, San Ramon and Sunol in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties (currently part of Rep. Ellen Tauscher’s 10th District), as well as most of sparsely-populated eastern Santa Clara County.

The 11th District loses central Stockton, whose residents shift into Rep. Gary Condit’s 18th District, which then in turn loses some of its suburban Modesto portion. Rep. George Radanovich’s 19th District also moves northward, shedding most of its Fresno County constituents and all of its Tulare County component, retaining Mariposa and Madera Counties, and gaining Tuolomne and eastern Stanislaus County. After a second revisitation of these Central Valley districts by the State Senate, however, the 18th Congressional District was again altered to add a strip of western Madera County which had been removed by the initial remap plan, as well as a small portion of Fresno County to the west of the City of Fresno. The territory was acquired from the initially proposed 19th and 20th Congressional Districts.

Rep. Cal Dooley’s 20th District was shifted slightly northward and westward, making room for a new open-seat Central Valley district, which incorporates all of Tulare County and most of eastern Fresno County and in which Republicans hold a 47% to 38% party registration advantage. Some of the territory for the new district was taken from Rep. Bill Thomas, whose 21st District in turn shifts south and westward to run nearly to the Pacific Ocean, incorporating nearly all of San Luis Obispo County, and adding far northwestern Los Angeles County near Lancaster. Rep. Lois Capps’ 22nd District changes considerably, including solely the coastal cities in all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties, and about half of the coastline of Ventura County (Oxnard and Port Hueneme). Rep. Elton Gallegly’s 23rd District moves in a northwesterly direction, shedding some coastline to the 22nd, yet gaining most of inland Santa Barbara County.

The 25th District, which previously included only northern Los Angeles County and was represented by Rep. Buck McKeon, was expanded to acquire Mono and Inyo Counties and northwestern San Bernardino County, territory ceded by Rep. Jerry Lewis. Rep. Brad Sherman’s 24th District moved more centrally into the San Fernando Valley, incorporating Pacoima, Panorama City, and San Fernando, and shedding its southeastern Ventura County voters and Malibu, Agoura, Thousand Oaks, Calabasas and some of Woodland Hills. Rep. Howard Berman’s 26th District moved somewhat to the north, east and south, incorporating residents near Universal City and Burbank to the south and Sylmar and Granada Hills to the North. The western portion of the old 24th was assumed by the 29th District, represented by Rep. Henry Waxman, which now stretches from West Hollywood to the Ventura County Line, retaining Santa Monica. Neighboring Rep. Jane Harman’s 36th District dropped most of Palos Verdes, while gaining territory in San Pedro, Harbor City and Wilmington.

In southern Los Angeles County, Rep. Steve Horn’s 38th District was eliminated, with voters divided among the 36th, 37th, and 45th Districts. In September 2001, Rep. Horn announced his decision to retire at the end of the 107th Congressional session. Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald’s 37th District moveed southward, incorporating portions of Long Beach from the old 38th, and thereby freeing space for a new, majority-Latino district (numbered 53) which will stretch from Whittier south to Cerritos and Lakewood, then northwest to Lynwood and Southgate. Diane Watson’s 32nd District changes relatively little, though it gains territory in and around Hollywood in the northeast portion, while Rep. Maxine Waters’ 35th District shifts somewhat northwest to accommodate the new 53rd District open seat. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard’s 33rd District shifts somewhat north, including downtown Los Angeles, and elongates to the south and east to include Norwalk. Rep. Xavier Becerra’s 30th District pushes to the north and east to include Eagle Rock and includes areas to the south, west and north of downtown L.A. The 27th District, represented by Rep. Adam Schiff, sheds its western population to the 26th, while pushing southward into Alhambra and northern Monterey Park and then east to San Gabriel and Temple City. Rep. David Dreier’s 28th District moved eastward, incorporating the southwestern edge of San Bernardino County near Upland. Rep. Grace Napolitano’s 34th District changes considerably, retaining Norwalk, part of Pico Rivera and Hacienda Heights, but moving sharply east from there through Pomona to the county line.

In Orange County, Rep. Ed Royce’s 39th District moved somewhat southeastward, eliminating its Los Angeles County component, and adding Villa Park and Orange. Neighboring Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 46th District retains Santa Ana and most of Garden Grove but loses a portion of that city. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s 45th District spreads wide along the water to the west, including coastal cities from Palos Verdes through Costa Mesa, though omitting most of San Pedro and Long Beach. Rep. Chris Cox adds portions of his 47th District to the south, including parts of Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano, while the district drops the eastern component which had previously stretched to the Riverside County line. The eastern portions move to Rep. Gary Miller’s 41st District, which also picks up the remaining portions of Mission Viejo and neighboring areas.

Under the new plan, Rep. Ken Calvert’s 43rd District, previously concentrated in western Riverside County, carries westward through Orange County to the Pacific Ocean at San Clemente. Southern portions of the 43rd near Lake Elsinore, Lakeland Village and Perris shift to Rep. Darrell Issa’s 48th District. Rep. Jerry Lewis’ 40th District drops its northernmost portions of Inyo County and northern and western San Bernardino County (moved to the 25th), and adds a portion of north central Riverside County near Beaumont and Banning.

In San Diego County, an early version of the redistricting plan had Rep. Susan Davis’ 49th District adding a vast territory to the east, stretching along all of the U.S.-Mexico border and incorporating all of Imperial County, while Rep. Bob Filner’s 50th District would not have changed in a major fashion. The State Senate altered the plan to place Imperial County into the district currently represented by Rep Filner, rather than extending the district further west to adjoin the 49th District (to be renumbered 53) the preponderance of which is currently represented by Rep. Davis. To compensate for the change, the new Davis district acquired from the Filner district some territory to the east of downtown San Diego in the vicinity of National City, as well as areas bordering Duncan Hunter’s 52nd District near Lemon Grove. Rep. Duke Cunningham’s 51st District moved further south to include some of northern San Diego formerly in the 49th. Rep. Duncan Hunter’s 52nd District lost all of Imperial County and its Mexico border portion, but added areas to the center west.

Maps and other details are available on the web at http://www.assembly.ca.gov by clicking on the Elections and Reapportionment link.