WASHINGTON — California’s commission charged with redrawing the state’s legislative boundaries connected rural San Luis Obispo County to Silicon Valley hubs in its recent congressional draft maps.
As redistricting — the process by which congressional districts are rejiggered to match new census population data — comes to a close, a new “ribbon of shame” draped across California’s central coast could very well make the cut.
The proposed Democrat-heavy congressional district, which experts predict would house incumbent Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, covers rural areas in the northern part of San Luis Obispo County, stretches through Silicon Valley’s Menlo Park and brushes up against South San Francisco, capturing coastal towns along the way.
Paul Mitchell, a redistricting expert, said that the size and shape of the district aren’t what pose a problem, rather the distribution of wealth, endorsements and political structure that would make it difficult for a representative from San Luis Obispo County to run against someone from Silicon Valley.
He drew an analogy: If a sliver of downtown Sacramento were connected to disparate rural areas, candidates from outside the state’s capital would stand little chance against someone who has the financial and political support of people in the metropolitan hub.
“Somebody from Yolo County isn’t going to beat somebody from Sacramento in a congressional race. That’s the problem, I think, with this new ‘ribbon of shame’ that they’re talking about,” Mitchell said. “It’s not the size that I think is problematic. It’s the fact that it has a finger going into Atherton and Menlo Park and the Apple headquarters.”
“Ribbon of shame” was former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nickname for a 2000s-era congressional district that stretched from Oxnard to the bottom of Monterey County. Maps sliced it out the last time California underwent redistricting in 2010.
The phrase resurfaced among analysts to describe the San Luis Obispo to South San Francisco stretch.
The wealthy venture capitalists of Atherton, Palo Alto and Menlo Park might match the liberal-leaning voters of Cambria, Paso Robles and Atascadero, but little else is similar between the land of tech giants and the vast expanse of wineries and coastal scenery. And other parts of San Luis Obispo County are fairly conservative.
Areas in the ribbon were pulled from districts currently held by Democratic Reps. Panetta, Anna Eshoo, Jackie Speier and Salud Carbajal.
Mitchell cautioned that the adoption might not stick despite the short turnaround time between now and when final maps are due. All of the legislative maps for the various levels of governance should be finalized by Dec. 23 for public review. Final maps must be sent to the secretary of state before Dec. 27.
California’s redistricting commission, a coalition of 14 citizens who are not supposed to have recent ties to politicians, opted for the plan in meetings this week after San Jose residents voiced concern about their population hub being split across four congressional districts in older drafts.
The ribbon rendition was one way to keep San Jose simply split across three. None of the city is in the district that would grab parts of San Luis Obispo County.
The version was publicly backed by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who has been able to call into the redistricting commission meetings three times during times for public comment.
The mayor’s office confirmed that Liccardo wanted to prevent splitting San Jose across four districts and has called into multiple meetings to advocate for his constituents.
Other local politicians have gone to similar lengths to push for changes in their communities.
California is losing a seat in the U.S. House because of sluggish population growth between 2010 and now, dropping its delegation to 52 representatives. Commissioners must absorb that district while complying with standards for the population, shape and composition of areas in new districts.
One of those rules is to keep a certain number of minority-majority voting districts, which the Voting Rights Act sets forth to help ethnic minority groups to elect members of their choosing. The ribbon is one way to preserve an Asian-majority voting district around San Jose.
The commission has drawn criticism for redrawing lines in unrecognizable ways, and for putting some incumbents in tough 2022 House elections if they ran in the same areas they represent. But the commission was specifically created prior to the last round of redistricting to ignore a candidate’s chance of winning.
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