The Redistricting Report

Thursday, March 17, 2011 State Democrat Sanchez faces GOP redistricting gains Orange County Register Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, will see her congressional district expand – and likely dilute Democrats' considerable advantage there – in the upcoming redistricting. Jail inmate census data challenged San Mateo Daily Journal The Census bureau counts the incarcerated where they are confined and credits that number to the county in which they were counted regardless of where the inmate might actually reside. Because some San Francisco inmates are housed in San Mateo County, this county received credit for people who do not live here. That policy, however, leads to prison-based gerrymandering and should be stopped, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Editorial: Don't fear shifting demographics OCRegister The Register quoted Steven Ochoa, the national redistricting coordinator for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He said, "We are a multicultural society; we have a great mix of human beings in this state. ... From the Twitterverse: @ RobStutzman: RT @MattRexroad: Is taking bets. Will take Lungren and give 5. Redistricting will give Lungren a better seat. @AllenJWilson: I have given up on my political crystal ball, which is stored and collecting dust. When Redistricting happens, it happens! @Johnnydontlike: Redistricting isn't gonna be good to Loretta Sanchez http://is.gd/zyQq5t  If she loses, I hope she still sends me a Christmas card Local Gay Community forms Redistricting Group Sacramento Press The LGBT population wants to be considered a "community of interest," which is one of the elements the City Council will use to redesign its districts, Herber said.  Steve Hansen, a member of the city's advisory redistricting committee who is also active in the gay community's redistricting effort, said the LGBT vote is now split between three City Council districts in the city's urban core. Because three council districts represent the area, the gay community's vote is weakened, he said. Monterey County Redistricting could split Salinas The Californian Salinas' political landscape could be divided further once Monterey County's redistricting process is complete, a consultant told the Board of Supervisors today.  The process was made a little trickier when Gobalet discovered an error in the 2000 Census that put prison inmates, college students who live in dorms and others housed in institutions in the wrong communities. For example, the Census counted prisoners in Soledad as residing in Marina and Salinas, inflating those cities populations while lowering Soledad's. In moving those populations back to their proper cities for the 2000 numbers, Gobalet said that she found that Salinas and Marina grew over the past decade, rather than shrink as previously reported.