California's congressional districts
California is the most populous U.S. state; as a result, it has the most representation in the United States House of Representatives, with 53 Representatives. Each Representative represents one congressional district.
Starting in the 2022 mid-term elections, per the 2020 United States census, California will lose a new congressional seat.[1] This marked the first time in the state's history where it will lose a seat.[2]
1992: Court ordered districts[]
The 1990 census gave California seven additional congressional seats. Attempts by the legislature to draw up new districts were unsuccessful, as three different plans drawn up by the Democratic-controlled Legislature were vetoed by Republican governor Pete Wilson. In September 1991 the California Supreme Court took jurisdiction over the redistricting process to break the stalemate.[3][4] Districts were drawn up by a panel of retired judges.
2002: Bipartisan redistricting[]
After the 2000 census, the California State Legislature was obliged to complete redistricting[5] for House of Representatives districts (in accordance with Article 1, Section 4 of the United States Constitution) as well as California State Assembly and California State Senate districts. It was mutually decided by legislators that the status quo in terms of balance of power would be preserved - a so-called Incumbent Protection Plan.[6] A bipartisan gerrymandering effort was done, and districts were configured in such a way that they were dominated by one or the other party, with few districts that could be considered competitive. In some cases this resulted in extremely convoluted boundary lines.
In the 2004 elections, a win by less than 55 percent of the vote was quite rare. This was seen in only five out of 80 State Assembly seats and two out of 20 State Senate seats up for election. The congressional seats were even less competitive than the state legislative districts - just three of the 53 districts were won with less than 60 percent of the vote in 2004.
2012: Citizens Redistricting Commission[]
Proposition 11, a California ballot proposition known as the Voters FIRST Act, was approved by the voters on November 4, 2008. It removed from the California Legislature the responsibility for drawing the state's congressional districts, and gave the responsibility instead to a 14-member Citizens Commission.[7] The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of removing the responsibility from the legislature. The proposition also required that the districts drawn up (1) comply with the federal Voting Rights Act; (2) make districts contiguous; (3) respect, to the extent possible, the integrity of cities, counties, neighborhoods and "communities of interest"; and (4) to the extent possible, make districts compact. Several of these terms are not defined in law.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had earlier proposed placing the redistricting process in the hands of retired judges, which was on the November ballot as an initiative in a special election (called by the Governor on June 14, 2005), Proposition 77. The special election was held on November 8, 2005. However, the initiative was overwhelmingly defeated, with 59 percent voting no. All initiatives, including those proposed by the Governor's allies and several independent initiatives, failed that year.
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission certified final district maps on August 15, 2011, and they took effect with the 2012 election.[8] The new districts are described as more "purple" than "red" or "blue" - that is, more mixed in electoral composition compared to the mostly "safe" districts of the previous decade, where incumbents were almost guaranteed re-election. These new districts, combined with demographic trends over several decades that favored the Democratic party, resulted in a gain of four House of Representatives seats for California Democrats in the 2012 elections.
2020: Citizens Redistricting Commission[]
Selection Process[]
The 14-member Commission is made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and four members who are not affiliated with either party. Initial and supplemental applications were forwarded to a review panel consisting of three independent auditors from the CA State Auditor. This panel selected 120 of the 'most qualified applicants', who were then personally interviewed and divided into three equal sub-pools according to party affiliation, and then narrowed down to 60 applicants.[9]
The review panel presented those 60 applicants to the CA State Legislature, where leadership had the option of removing up to 24 names from the list - eight from each sub-pool. The names of the remaining applicants were submitted to the CA State Auditor, who randomly drew three Democrats, three Republicans and two from neither of those parties. These eight individuals became the first eight members of the commission and then selected the remaining six members by selecting two commissioners from each of the three sub-pools.[9]
Redistricting Process[]
The commission received the official 2020 U.S. Census data on which the maps must be based, by law, on September 21, 2021. Draft maps were released on November 21, and final maps were submitted to the CA Secretary of State on December 27, 2021.[10]
The new districts are considered 'enacted' as of December 27, 2021. However, there is a 90-day period for a 'sufficient and timely' referendum petition to be filed to prevent the maps from becoming 'effective'. This referendum period will end on March 27, 2022. Even once they become 'effective', the newly redrawn districts won't become 'operative' until the 2022 primary and general elections, and the new districts won't actually 'exist' until after the 2022 general election is complete.[11] Until the 2023 inaugurations, the existing boundaries and elected representatives remain as shown below.
Current (until 2023 inauguration) districts and representatives[]
List of members of the California United States House delegation, their terms in office, district boundaries, and their political ratings according to the CPVI. The delegation for the 117th Congress has a total of 53 members, with 42 Democrats (including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi) and 10 Republicans (including minority leader Kevin McCarthy). One seat is currently vacant.
| Current U.S. representatives from California ()
| |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Member (Residence)[12] |
Party | Incumbent since | CPVI (2021)[13] |
District map |
| 1st |  Doug LaMalfa (Oroville) |
Republican | January 3, 2013 | R+11 | 
|
| 2nd |  Jared Huffman (San Rafael) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+23 | 
|
| 3rd |  John Garamendi (Walnut Grove) |
Democratic | January 3, 2009 | D+5 | 
|
| 4th |  Tom McClintock (Elk Grove) |
Republican | January 3, 2009 | R+8 | 
|
| 5th |  Mike Thompson (St. Helena) |
Democratic | February 3, 1999 | D+22 | 
|
| 6th |  Doris Matsui (Sacramento) |
Democratic | March 10, 2005 | D+21 | 
|
| 7th |  Ami Bera (Elk Grove) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+5 | 
|
| 8th |  Jay Obernolte (Big Bear Lake) |
Republican | January 3, 2021 | R+8 | 
|
| 9th |  Jerry McNerney (Stockton) |
Democratic | January 3, 2007 | D+8 | 
|
| 10th |  Josh Harder (Turlock) |
Democratic | January 3, 2019 | EVEN | 
|
| 11th |  Mark DeSaulnier (Concord) |
Democratic | January 3, 2015 | D+24 | 
|
| 12th |  Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco) |
Democratic | June 2, 1987 | D+38 | 
|
| 13th |  Barbara Lee (Oakland) |
Democratic | April 21, 1998 | D+40 | 
|
| 14th |  Jackie Speier (Hillsborough) |
Democratic | April 8, 2008 | D+28 | 
|
| 15th |  Eric Swalwell (Dublin) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+22 | 
|
| 16th |  Jim Costa (Fresno) |
Democratic | January 3, 2005 | D+9 | 
|
| 17th |  Ro Khanna (Fremont) |
Democratic | January 3, 2017 | D+24 | 
|
| 18th |  Anna Eshoo (Atherton) |
Democratic | January 3, 1993 | D+27 | 
|
| 19th |  Zoe Lofgren (San Jose) |
Democratic | January 3, 1995 | D+23 | 
|
| 20th |  Jimmy Panetta (Carmel Valley) |
Democratic | January 3, 2017 | D+23 | 
|
| 21st |  David Valadao (Hanford) |
Republican | January 3, 2021 | D+5 | 
|
| 22nd |  Vacant |
None | January 3, 2022 | R+6 | 
|
| 23rd |  Kevin McCarthy (Bakersfield) |
Republican | January 3, 2007 | R+12 | 
|
| 24th |  Salud Carbajal (Santa Barbara) |
Democratic | January 3, 2017 | D+10 | 
|
| 25th |  Mike Garcia (Santa Clarita) |
Republican | May 19, 2020 | D+3 | 
|
| 26th |  Julia Brownley (Westlake Village) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+10 | 
|
| 27th |  Judy Chu (Monterey Park) |
Democratic | July 14, 2009 | D+18 | 
|
| 28th |  Adam Schiff (Burbank) |
Democratic | January 3, 2001 | D+23 | 
|
| 29th |  Tony Cárdenas (Pacoima) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+27 | 
|
| 30th |  Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks) |
Democratic | January 3, 1997 | D+20 | 
|
| 31st |  Pete Aguilar (Redlands) |
Democratic | January 3, 2015 | D+9 | 
|
| 32nd |  Grace Napolitano (Norwalk) |
Democratic | January 3, 1999 | D+17 | 
|
| 33rd |  Ted Lieu (Torrance) |
Democratic | January 3, 2015 | D+19 | 
|
| 34th |  Jimmy Gomez (Los Angeles) |
Democratic | July 11, 2017 | D+34 | 
|
| 35th |  Norma Torres (Pomona) |
Democratic | January 3, 2015 | D+17 | 
|
| 36th |  Raul Ruiz (Coachella) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+4 | 
|
| 37th |  Karen Bass (Los Angeles) |
Democratic | January 3, 2011 | D+36 | 
|
| 38th |  Linda Sánchez (Whittier) |
Democratic | January 3, 2003 | D+17 | 
|
| 39th |  Young Kim (La Habra) |
Republican | January 3, 2021 | D+3 | 
|
| 40th |  Lucille Roybal-Allard (Downey) |
Democratic | January 3, 1993 | D+31 | 
|
| 41st |  Mark Takano (Riverside) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+12 | 
|
| 42nd |  Ken Calvert (Corona) |
Republican | January 3, 1993 | R+7 | 
|
| 43rd |  Maxine Waters (Los Angeles) |
Democratic | January 3, 1991 | D+29 | 
|
| 44th |  Nanette Barragán (San Pedro) |
Democratic | January 3, 2017 | D+32 | 
|
| 45th |  Katie Porter (Irvine) |
Democratic | January 3, 2019 | D+3 | 
|
| 46th |  Lou Correa (Santa Ana) |
Democratic | January 3, 2017 | D+16 | 
|
| 47th |  Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+14 | 
|
| 48th |  Michelle Steel (Surfside[failed verification]) |
Republican | January 3, 2021 | R+1 | 
|
| 49th |  Mike Levin (San Juan Capistrano) |
Democratic | January 3, 2019 | D+4 | 
|
| 50th |  Darrell Issa (Vista) |
Republican | January 3, 2021 | R+8 | 
|
| 51st |  Juan Vargas (San Diego) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+20 | 
|
| 52nd |  Scott Peters (San Diego) |
Democratic | January 3, 2013 | D+12 | 
|
| 53rd |  Sara Jacobs (San Diego) |
Democratic | January 3, 2021 | D+17 | 
|
Historical district boundaries[]
Districts from 2003 to 2013
See also[]
Notes[]
The State of California operates under a Top Two Candidates Open Primary system. Under this system, most of the offices (including all U.S. Congressional seats in the State of California) that were previously considered “partisan” are now referred to as “voter-nominated.” The only traditionally “partisan” offices that remain on California ballots are for the offices of President of the United States and for County Central Committees. In a Top Two Candidates Open Primary system, all candidates for a specific office appear on the same ballot and only the top two vote-getters in the Primary Election (regardless of political affiliation) move on to the General Election. Because of this, candidates now declare a “Party Preference” rather than a “Party Affiliation.”[14]
Due to redistricting, the Congressional District numbers in California have changed for the 2022 Election Cycle. Through this process, the District numbers have changed the following ways:[15]
· California's 1st Congressional District will remain California's 1st Congressional District;
· California's 2nd Congressional District will remain California's 2nd Congressional District;
· California's 3rd Congressional District will become California's 8th Congressional District;
· California's 4th Congressional District will become California's 3rd Congressional District;
· California's 5th Congressional District will become California's 4th Congressional District;
· California's 6th Congressional District will become California's 7th Congressional District;
· California's 7th Congressional District will become California's 6th Congressional District;
· California's 8th Congressional District will become California's 23rd Congressional District;
· California's 9th Congressional District will remain California's 9th Congressional District;
· California's 10th Congressional District will become California's 13th Congressional District;
· California's 11th Congressional District will become California's 10th Congressional District;
· California's 12th Congressional District will become California's 11th Congressional District;
· California's 13th Congressional District will become California's 12th Congressional District;
· California's 14th Congressional District will become California's 15th Congressional District;
· California's 15th Congressional District will become California's 14th Congressional District;
· California's 16th Congressional District will become California's 21st Congressional District;
· California's 17th Congressional District will remain California's 17th Congressional District;
· California's 18th Congressional District will become California's 16th Congressional District;
· California's 19th Congressional District will become California's 18th Congressional District;
· California's 20th Congressional District will become California's 19th Congressional District;
· California's 21st Congressional District will become California's 22nd Congressional District;
· California's 22nd Congressional District will become California's 5th Congressional District;
· California's 23rd Congressional District will become California's 20th Congressional District;
· California's 24th Congressional District will remain California's 24th Congressional District;
· California's 25th Congressional District will become California's 27th Congressional District;
· California's 26th Congressional District will remain California's 26th Congressional District;
· California's 27th Congressional District will become California's 28th Congressional District;
· California's 28th Congressional District will become California's 30th Congressional District;
· California's 29th Congressional District will remain California's 29th Congressional District;
· California's 30th Congressional District will become California's 32nd Congressional District;
· California's 31st Congressional District will become California's 33rd Congressional District;
· California's 32nd Congressional District will become California's 31st Congressional District;
· California's 33rd Congressional District will become California's 36th Congressional District;
· California's 34th Congressional District will remain California's 34th Congressional District;
· California's 35th Congressional District will remain California's 35th Congressional District;
· California's 36th Congressional District will become California's 25th Congressional District;
· California's 37th Congressional District will remain California's 37th Congressional District;
· California's 38th Congressional District will remain California's 38th Congressional District;
· California's 39th Congressional District will become California's 40th Congressional District;
· California's 40th Congressional District will become California's 42nd Congressional District;~
· California's 41st Congressional District will become California's 39th Congressional District;
· California's 42nd Congressional District will become California's 41st Congressional District;
· California's 43rd Congressional District will remain California's 43rd Congressional District;
· California's 44th Congressional District will remain California's 44th Congressional District;
· California's 45th Congressional District will become California's 47th Congressional District;
· California's 46th Congressional District will remain California's 46th Congressional District;
· California's 47th Congressional District will become California's 42nd Congressional District;~
· California's 48th Congressional District will become California's 45th Congressional District;
· California's 49th Congressional District will remain California's 49th Congressional District;
· California's 50th Congressional District will become California's 48th Congressional District;
· California's 51st Congressional District will become California's 52nd Congressional District;
· California's 52nd Congressional District will become California's 50th Congressional District;
· California's 53rd Congressional District will become California's 51st Congressional District;
~ Due to Redistricting, the State of California lost a Congressional Seat due to a decrease in total population. That is why this chart shows both the 40th and the 47th Congressional Districts becoming the new 42nd Congressional District.
References[]
- ^ Merica, Dan; Stark, Liz (April 26, 2021). "Census Bureau announces 331 million people in US, Texas will add two congressional seats". CNN. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ Mason, Melanie; Mehta, Seema (April 26, 2021). "California to lose a congressional seat, according to new census data". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ "Supreme Court takes over remapping job". Sacramento Bee. September 26, 1991. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
- ^ "Court Remap Plan Could Cut Democrats' Clout in California". Washington Post. December 4, 1991. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
- ^ The word "gerrymandering" is replaced with redistricting as the word "gerrymandering" refers, by definition, to the redrawing of districts to the advantage of a single party or for partisan gain
- ^ "Latinos May Gain Few Seats in Redistricting; Politics: Their push for more representation in Congress clashes with Democrats' desire to protect incumbents as district boundaries are redrawn". Los Angeles Times. August 26, 2001. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
- ^ "Citizens Commission website: background". Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
- ^ "California Citizens Redistricting Commission | "Fair Representation - Democracy at Work!"".
- ^ a b "About Us".
- ^ "Press Releases".
- ^ "What New Districts Mean".
- ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- ^ "Introducing the 2021 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- ^ Secretary of State, California (January 27, 2022). "Frequently Asked Questions". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ Gunzburger, Ron. "Politics1 - Online Guide to California Elections, Candidates & Politics". politics1.com. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- Congressional districts of California