And the Schwarzenegger-led supporters routinely over-promised how many competitive political races would result from reasonably drawn maps. The citizens panel struggled with how to define “communities” that should be kept in single districts. That created the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw state legislative districts, and voters in 2010 handed over congressional district map drawing to the panel. Multiple efforts to strip the Legislature of the job failed before voters approved Proposition 11 in 2008. The message by then was clear: The redistricting process was a mess. The only time the two parties worked together, when they jointly signed off on new legislative and congressional seats in 2001, it was to protect incumbents. Voters were pulled into the 1982 fight when Republicans - accusing Democrats of blatantly attempting to fill the new California congressional seats with liberal lawmakers - tried to overturn maps through a statewide referendum. Pete Wilson rejected maps drawn by Democratic legislators. The courts again intervened in 1991, when then-Gov. The task of drawing legislative and congressional boundaries was left to the California Supreme Court. Reagan vetoed redistricting plans sent to his desk in 1971, calling one version “a mockery of good government.” The result was a legal stalemate. In 1961’s redrawing, newly empowered Democrats exacted revenge and skewed the maps in their favor.īy the time Ronald Reagan was governor and California had 20 million people, each redrawing of maps led to open political warfare. Those maps slowed, but didn’t block, the growing clout of Democrats. (2.61 MB, PDF) Attitudes Toward Gay Marriage, 2012. You can save it as an image by clicking on the print map to access the. This free to print map is a static image in jpg format. The original source of this Printable political Map of California is:. You can print this political map and use it in your projects. Attitudes Toward Abortion Restrictions, 2012. This printable map of California is free and available for download. They are related to the analysis in California’s Political Geography, 2012, by Eric McGhee and Daniel Krimm. When the map making was over, they held a majority of the state’s congressional districts. These maps illustrate the geographic variation of Californians’ opinions on a variety of fiscal, social, and political issues. Quinn cites 1951 as “the first modern gerrymander” in California, as then-dominant Republicans intentionally skewed the once-a-decade reshaping of legislative and congressional boundaries.
California’s growing population resulted in an astounding 29 new seats in the House of Representatives in just the last half of the 20th century.