Setting the redistricting record straight

Bonnie Gore's guest editorial on Aug. 22 ("Keep Placer County's voice; stop governor's power grab") opposing Governor Newsom's proposed redistricting misrepresents both the content and the need for the measure. She falsely claims, "Governor Newsom wants to dismantle the independent redistricting system …," passed by voter initiative in 2008. To the contrary, respecting our non-partisan system, Newsom's bill does not dismantle the system. It returns redistricting to the legislature only temporarily, until 2032, when the new Census is expected be available. Ms. Gore wrote, "The governor claims this move is necessary 'because of what Texas is doing.' But the facts don't support that comparison. In Texas, a federal court found that certain districts may have violated the Voting Rights Act, which triggered a legal process under Texas law." This is strictly true, but Trump pulled the trigger. Fearing the likely loss of the majority in the House due to his low ratings, the president brought on the current redistricting debacle by directing his corrupt Department of Justice to send a letter to the Texas governor that identified four congressional districts likely in violation of the Civil Rights Act. This initiated the Texas redistricting circus, with the Democrats leaving the state to prevent a quorum. The end result was a victory for Republicans. On his own personal social media site, Trump crowed, "Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats … Texas never lets us down. Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing." State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi and the map's sponsor, said, "Redistricting can be done at any point in time. The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance."[1] Governor Newsom, in response to what Texas was doing and what Trump was urging the other red states to do, warned Texans that California could also redistrict and possibly regain the five seats expected to be lost in Texas. But the Texas governor and legislature ignored the warning, doubled down and passed the bill. This entire redistricting mess could have been avoided if all states created non-partisan commissions. But many have not. Most states that have non-partisan commissions are blue; most that do not are red. In another Republican attack on the integrity of elections (after permitting in 2016 unlimited donations by corporations to political campaigns on the dubious logic that curtailing donations is like denying free speech), the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that states can draw electoral maps on partisan grounds. Had the Supreme Court rightly rejected partisan gerrymandering when it had the chance, all of this quibbling about redistricting would be moot. The remainder of Ms. Gore's editorial is standard Republican fearmongering with no basis in fact. She asserts, "If this (redistricting) plan succeeds, Placer County will lose its independence. It will become easier for Sacramento politicians to dictate how our county is represented …" Ms. Gore seems confused here; redistricting is about Congressional districts, not State Assembly and Senate districts. What do Sacramento politicians have to do with any of this? Finally, Ms. Gore praises Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley as one who "has delivered real results for our community." In reality, the representative has been very quick to claim credit for infrastructure improvements passed during the previous administration, despite his reliably negative votes on these improvements. Dr. Roughgarden is a retired economist and engineer with degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University.