MAILANDER MUSINGS - If you wonder who the culprit is for gaming the first takes at Assembly redistricting in Los Angeles,
especially how the districts not only nibble at Republican strongholds in general but also nibble more on behalf of Latino Democrats and away from Anglo and Black Democrats, [link] you may not have to look much further than the commission's racial composition.There are no male Anglo Democrats and no Black Democrats at all--none--on the State's fourteen member citizens redistricting commission. [link]
Here's the breakdown, by ethnicity and party:
Anglo Democrats: NONE.
Asian Democrats: Dai.
Black Democrats: NONE.
Latino Democrats: Aguirre, Ancheta, Blanco, Reyes.
Anglo Republicans: Barraba, Webber, Ward.
Asian Republicans: Ontai, Yao.
Black Republicans: NONE.
Latino Republicans: NONE.
Anglo DTS: DiGiulio, Forbes.
Asian DTS: NONE.
Black DTS: Malloy, Parvenu.
Latino DTS: NONE.
Interesting to note that only decline-to-state Blacks need to have applied, and no Latino Republicans need to have applied either.
Other interesting note: Jeanne Raya, above left, one of LA's three citizen commission members, is not only a Latino Democrat, but a former president of California La Raza Lawyers Association.
** See also Joseph Mailander’s analysis of first redistricting maps just released.
(Joseph Mailander is a writer and an observer. He blogs at street-hassle.blogspot.com where this column was first posted.) –cw
Tags: redistricting, California, La Raza, Redistricting Commission, Jeanne Raya
CityWatch
Vol 9 Issue 47
Pub: June 14, 2011
