After Pete Stark, Mike Honda and Barbara Lee did so yesterday, Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, announced his re-election bid today.

Miller, now the 7th Congressional District’s representative, will run in what will soon be called the 11th Congressional District, encompassing San Pablo, Richmond, El Cerrito, Kensington, a small part of Martinez south of Highway 4, Concord, Clayton, Pittsburg, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Danville, Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara, Alamo, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and part of Antioch.

“I was born and raised in Contra Costa County and have lived here my whole life,” Miller said in his news release. “Some parts of this district I already represent and others I have previously represented. I love this community and believe that there is so much we can do together to create jobs at home, strengthen our local economy, improve our public education system, and make our communities more livable. I appreciate the support this community has shown for me and the job I am doing in Congress, and I look forward to continuing our strong relationship.”

Not only did Pete Stark and Mike Honda announce their congressional re-election campaigns yesterday, but Barbara Lee did, too.

Less drama there – Lee’s district, although changing in number from 9th to 13th (as Stark goes from 13th to 15th and Honda goes from 15th to 17th) – will still contain her liberal strongholds of Oakland and Berkeley, where nobody would have much change of unseating her. The newly redrawn district also includes Alameda (which Lee represented before the 2001 redistricting), Albany, Emeryville, Piedmont and San Leandro.

“I have had the privilege of representing most of this district for over thirteen years in Congress, and had the honor of serving both Alameda briefly in Congress and for six years in the California Legislature,” Lee said in a news release yesterday. “Of course, I have long worked with my colleague, Congressman Pete Stark, to support San Leandro on federal matters that impact our region.”

“This district is one of the most diverse, vibrant and enlightened districts in the country and I’m looking forward to continuing to reach out and connect with people from all over the district to get their insight and to talk about how it would be my honor to stand and fight for them in Congress to create jobs and jump start our economy, build healthy communities, and ensure a more just and peaceful world.”

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton

On the same day the independent “citizen” mapping commission released final congressional and legislative map boundaries, Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, launched his re-election campaign.

Under new boundaries set for adoption in August, McNerney will run in a seat that largely overlaps by two-thirds his current district. The new 9th District will include the bulk of San Joaquin County and stretch into eastern Contra Costa County communities of Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay and portions of Antioch. He loses the Tri- and San Ramon valleys to neighboring districts.

McNerney doesn’t live in the new district but the law doesn’t require it.

Here’s what the congressman said:

MCNERNEY LAUNCHES RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY/EAST CONTRA COSTA COUNTY DISTRICT

Stockton, CA – Congressman Jerry McNerney today launched his re-election campaign for the San Joaquin County and East Contra Costa County congressional district.  Congressman McNerney has represented San Joaquin County and East Contra Costa County for almost 5 years.

“I’m proud and honored to launch my re-election campaign for the San Joaquin County/East Contra Costa district,” said Rep. McNerney.  “This area has a resilient spirit, a strong sense of community and a great future ahead.  I’m deeply committed to this area and excited to continue working for San Joaquin and East Contra Costa Counties.”

Congressman McNerney currently represents a majority of the voters in the San Joaquin County/East Contra Costa County congressional district and is the incumbent Member of Congress for the area.

“After spending so much time in San Joaquin County, it truly is my home,” continued Rep. McNerney.  “That’s why I’m planning to move my residence to San Joaquin County and put down even more roots in this community.  I’m going to continue to fight for San Joaquin County and East Contra Costa County.”

During his time as the representative for this area, Congressman McNerney led the effort to bring a new veterans medical facility and nursing home to San Joaquin County, wrote a new law to improve treatment for service members suffering from traumatic brain injuries, and helped secure millions of dollars in funding for local infrastructure projects, including for the Port of Stockton and Highway 4 in Brentwood.

Congressman McNerney also held countless public meetings in cities throughout San Joaquin County and East Contra Costa County.  He has made accessibility to the people he represents a top priority and travels home to California from Washington D.C. nearly every weekend.

Public Policy Institute of California fellow Eric McGhee spoke Thursday night to the East Bay chapter of the League of California cities about the potential impacts of independent redistricting.

McGhee’s most interesting points centered around how to measure the success of the new maps in terms of creating more competitive districts winnable by either party.

Watch the video below. A link to McGhee’s slideshow is also below.

Redistricting

Without the necessary three votes to make a final selection, the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors this afternoon punted its decision over new political districts to the end of the month.

The five supervisors will take up the matter again on July 26 at 10:30 a.m. (Click here for Contra Costa’s redistricting web site and links to all the various maps and data.)

Frustration was evident as the supervisors each reiterated the merits of his or her preferred map but repeatedly failed to come up with that third and majority vote.  Each views the county through a different political and personal lens, and they have yet to find middle ground.

Supervisors Federal Glover and John Gioia agree. The other three supervisors (Gayle Uilkema, Mary Nejedly Piepho and Karen Mitchoff) dislike the men’s map but don’t support each other’s maps, either.

Four maps remain on the table for debate although any could change at any time.

Click here for Piepho’s preferred map (Proposal 15.)

Here’s the first map proposed by Glover and Gioia (Proposal 17.)

Here are the men’s second and revised map (Proposal 17D) they submitted earlier today.

And here is what Mitchoff has submitted (Proposal 16.)

Broadly speaking, Glover and Gioia want to create a map based on regional subdivisions and reverse the 2001 map under which East Contra Costa County was carved into two districts. They submitted two maps, (Proposal 17 and Proposal 17D) each slightly adjusted in an attempt to win a third vote. But one of their maps slices a small sliver of Concord into a second district, while both maps splits Pinole, Walnut Creek and Antioch and the percentage population spread among the districts is 7.95 to 8.76 points. The law requires the county to draw new districts of equal population or as near as possible to equal; deviations have withstood court challenges but must be justified.

Their map most closely matches the option drawn by a volunteer citizen’s task force, or Concept 6, as it was originally labeled. Much of the audience Tuesday endorsed this version, holding up signed and testifying in its favor.

Piepho’s submission appears designed to inspire compromise rather than survive outright adoption. It draws her out of Walnut Creek, her prime political support base, and instead shifts it entirely into Uilkema’s district. It splits no cities and has a 5.39 percentage point population spread. But it does split Bay Point and Pittsburg, communities with longstanding ties.

Mitchoff’s map shifts Glover’s district westward, as he wanted, and allows Piepho to keep portions of Walnut Creek. But it splits Antioch and Walnut Creek. It has a 6.86 percentage point population spread.

In the next two weeks, the pressure will be on these supervisors to cut a deal, end the political suspense and allow the 2012 election to official begin. Uilkema, Glover and Piepho are up for re-election and at least four possible challengers were in the audience Tuesday and testified.

The question is whether a majority of the board will simply ram a map down the throats of their colleagues and let the chips fall where they will … or will they unanimously choke down a compromise and avert open warfare.

My money is on the latter although the former would be a lot more fun to write about.

The brand new California Citizens Redistricting Commission over the weekend cancelled its second scheduled draft map release set for Thursday. Instead, it will focus on finishing up final maps by July 28 in advance of its Aug. 15 constitutional deadline to adopt them.

Veteran redistricting expert Tony Quinn, an ardent advocate of citizen redistricting but a frequent critic of the way the commission has done its work, views the move as evidence of internal chaos, partisanship and inevitable court takeover. Click here to read Quinn’s Fox and Hounds column.

Whether or not the situation is as dire as Quinn predicts remains an open question. Voters created the commission in 2008 and 2010, and this is its debut performance.

But we’ll find out soon enough.

Read on for the commission’s press release on the cancellation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Lynn Woolsey‘s office indicated today that she’ll hold a news conference next Monday afternoon June 27 at her Petaluma home – almost certainly to announce her decision on whether to seek another House term or to retire.

The 10-term Democrat said she’ll be joined at the event by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, with whom she co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Woolsey, 73, now represents all of Marin County and most of Sonoma County, but redistricting could change all that. Woolsey fired off an angry statement 10 days ago when the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s first draft Congressional map showed her district being narrowed and elongated along the state’s North Coast to stretch all the way from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.

Among Democrats who might vie to replace her if she bows out are Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael; state Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa; Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams of San Rafael; and progressive activist Normon Solomon of Inverness.

Of those four, only Evans’ home would fall outside the newly drawn district according to this draft – not that living within the district is a constitutional requirement.

The first draft of maps from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission more than doubles the number of competitive congressional and legislative seats, according to a Public Policy Institute of California analysis posted a few minutes ago.

The Assembly would gain seven competitive seats for a total of 16; the Senate would see a gain of six seats, for a total of nine; while the House of Representatives would gain five seats for a total of nine.

The PPIC defines “competitive” as any seat in which the gap between the Democratic and Republican voter registration is five percentage points for the Republicans and 10 points for Democrats. (The imbalance reflects the fact that Democratic votes have historically crossed party lines more often than Republican voters, according to the analysis.)

Keep in mind, however, that the redistricting commission used no political data when it drew its lines. Proponents of

The debate over which party benefits from redistricting will undoubtedly unwind for months, particularly as California heads into the 2012 election where the first fullscale implemention of the new top-two primary election coincides with the new district boundaries.

But the PPIC predicts no measurable gains by either political party in terms of balance of power.  Some analysts have said the GOP could lose four to eight seats in Congress, while the Democrats might gain enough numbers to overcome the two-thirds vote threshold for new taxes.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, is the first Bay Area House member to come out swinging against the first-draft maps released today by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Woolsey’s 6th Congressional District – which now starts with Marin County and runs up to the Sonoma-Mendocino county line – instead would run all the way up the coast to the Oregon border.

“In manufacturing a new coastal district under this draft map, the Redistricting Commission has dismissed its mandate and violated its own guidelines,” Woolsey said in a statement issued this afternoon. “The whole point is to keep communities of interest together. According to the Commission itself, districts are supposed to ‘be drawn to encourage geographical compactness such that nearby areas of population are not bypassed for more distant populations.’

“What could be more distant than the expanse from the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border? It’s a 375-mile trip. You could barely make the drive in a single day,” she said.

She may or may not be concerned for her own career security: Woolsey, 73, has indicated she might not seek another term in 2012. Among Democrats who might vie to replace her if she bows out are Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael; state Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa; Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams of San Rafael; and progressive activist Normon Solomon of Inverness.

Of those four, only Evans’ home would fall outside the newly drawn district according to this draft – not that living within the district is a constitutional requirement.

Read the rest of Woolsey’s statement verbatim, after the jump…
Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t miss your chance to tell the new independent members of the California Citizens Redistricting Task Force how you want to redraw congressional and legislative lines.

As part of the commission’s statewide tour, it will make a stop in Oakland on Saturday.

Here are the details as provided by the commission:

California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission Calls On The Public To Submit Testimony For The First Draft of District Maps

Public Hearing To Be Held in Oakland May 21st

Public Can Submit Testimony Online, By Fax, Mail Or At A Public Hearing

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission is calling for the public to submit their testimony on the drawing of district boundaries no later than May 23rd in order to be considered by the Commission for the first draft of district maps. The Commission was created by California voters to draw state Congressional, Assembly, State Senate and Board of Equalization Districts. The public can submit their testimony online, by fax, mail or at a public hearing.

The Commission will be holding a public input hearing in Oakland, Saturday, May 21, 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m., Oakland City Council Chamber, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza.

The public is encouraged to present testimony about the community they live in, describing the kind of people who live there, important issues, community centers and community history. Speaking up about their community is critical to ensuring district lines are drawn to keep their community whole and grouped with nearby communities with similar interests. The Commission would also like to know about communitieswhich do not share common interests which could be placed in another district.

The maximum time for each speaker is 2 minutes. Speakers should provide copies for the 14 members of the Commission of documents they are submitting as testimony. Speaker numbers may be obtained one hour prior to the posted time of the hearing. The posted meeting time may not extend more than 2 hours beyond the original closing, subject to venue limitations and speaker demand. No speaker numbers will be given out after the end of the posted meeting time. Due to high speaker demand, it is possible that not all people who have been given numbers will have the opportunity to speak.

Along with census data, publicly submitted comments will be used to assist the Commission when it begins drawing district boundaries.

The Commission encourages the public to submit written testimony bye-mail at votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov, fax at 916-322-0904 or by mail to the Citizens Redistricting Commission, 1130 K Street, Suite 101, Sacramento, CA 95814. Once the testimony is received it is posted online, given to each of the Commissioners and catalogued by area by the Commission’s line drawers.

Please visit the Commission’s website at www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov for complete information on the hearings and to access a guide to help you prepare your testimony.