Redistricting California: Newly proposed congressional maps released

The Brief

• The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has submitted a proposed map of California's redrawn congressional districts.

• The move by Newsom, and state Democrats, counters similar efforts underway in Texas.

• The new maps will likely be decided by California voters in a Nov. 4 special election.

LOS ANGELES - A day after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to redraw California's congressional districts, in response to a similar attempt by Republicans in Texas, a proposed map of the new districts was released.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee submitted the following congressional map to the California state legislature for consideration.

Key points and differences

Below is a breakdown of the key points of the new map from the DCCC.

• The submitted map is consistent with criteria laid out by the California’s Citizen Redistricting Commission.

• It keeps districts more compact than in the current Commission-drawn map, which helps to keep more communities and neighborhoods together.

• It splits fewer cities than the current map (57 in submitted map versus 60 in current map).

• It minimizes changes to the 2020 Commission map to impact as few residents as possible.

• The submitted map leaves 8 districts untouched and, in 20 districts, fewer than 10% of residents are impacted.

• Communities of interest are protected, with necessary splits in San Jose, Sacramento, and Los Angeles (all cities that were split by the commission) done so along neighborhood boundaries and/or city council district lines.

View the newly proposed congressional maps here

View the current congressional maps here 

What they're saying

"We will not stand by as Republicans attempt to rig the election in their favor and choose their voters. It’s increasingly clear that Republicans will do anything to protect their narrow majority because they know they can’t win on their disastrous legislative record which has raised costs and rips away healthcare for millions, all to give the ultra-wealthy a tax break," DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said in a statement.

The new map will be put forth to voters in a special election, with the California legislature set to take up the issue next week to call a Nov. 4 vote.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Newsom unveils plan for redistricting California

According to Politico, if the redistricting happens, three seats that are currently considered ‘safe Republican’ would change to ‘safe Democratic’ and one more would switch to ‘lean Democratic’. Those seats currently belong to Republicans Doug Lamalfa, Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, and Kevin Kiley.

Reason for redistricting

The backstory

The move to redistrict California is a direct response to a Republican-led effort in Texas, pushed by President Donald Trump, as his party seeks to maintain its slim House majority after the midterm election.

Texas lawmakers are considering a new map that would help them send five more Republicans to Washington, but Democrats have so far halted a vote by leaving the state to prevent their GOP colleagues from meeting Trump’s demands.

"We can't stand back and watch this amok or this bankruptcy disappear. We can't stand back and watch this democracy disappear, district by district, all across this country, not just in Texas, but in Missouri, where J.D. Vance went just a week ago in Indiana, in places like Ohio and places like Florida. We need to stand up, not just California. Other blue states need to stand up," Newsom said during a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles.

There are 435 seats in the U.S. House and Republicans currently hold a 219-212 majority, with four vacancies. New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census is conducted.

Many states give legislators the power to draw maps but some, like California, rely on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan.

California Democrats already hold 43 of the state’s 52 House seats, and the state has some of the most competitive House seats.

The Source

Information for this story came from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and previous FOX 11 reports.