Rightbloggers Claim New California Voting Districts Were Rigged by 'La Raza Democrats'

By Simone Wilson Thu., Jun. 16 2011 at 5:00 PM

Jeanne Raya, a Latina Democrat on the commission

Uh oh: La Raza is rising! California's voting districts are getting browner/bluer by the second. Before we know it, this'll be the goddamn Nation of Aztlán, are we right?

The state's historic vote to let a group of 14 guys and gals with no political ties draw up new districts for the State Assembly, State Senate and U.S. Congress made the puzzle of rhyme-less, gerrymandered districts that politicians had drawn to get themselves re-elected almost unrecognizable. (Evidenced by the silent scream of agony coming from Sacramento in the days following the release of the Citizen Redistricting Commission's first draft.)

But of course, as with any change in status quo that could give marginalized groups a stronger voice, paranoid white men...

... are calling the draft a conspiracy to get more Latinos into office. CityWatch published a piece by estranged LA Weekly freelancer Joseph Mailander, in which the blogger questions why there are no white Democrats or black Democrats on the commission:

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.

Let's see. Maybe because Latinos are three times more likely to be Democrat than Republican? And since 82 percent of Republicans in California are white, that narrows the chances of finding a Republican Latino interested in being on the commission to very slim -- even slimmer because there are fewer Republicans overall.

Plus, we're talking about a very small selection of people here, chosen for reasons other than their race and party. For the commission's makeup to be perfectly aligned with California's would be a rig in itself.

"There's no basis to think that it's anything other than coincidence," says Bruce Mirken of the Greenlining Institute. "You can slice and dice it a thousand ways and find some group that was left out. It was a reasonably diverse body."

Mirken's org is dedicated to making sure ~~the growing pool of Latinos~~ all communities of color in California are provided with proportionate opportunity -- politically, economically and otherwise.

Quite oppositely from Mailander, Mirken says he's suspicious as to why Latinos are underrepresented in the new districts. Though he emphasizes that the maps released this week were just first drafts, Mirken says he's concerned "that with such a large increase in Latino population, there was no increase in [Latino-heavy] congressional districts." Many more Latino advocates feel the same.

Mirken also has evidence to contradict Mailander's theory: Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-West Covina), who currently represents the 57th Assembly District, would lose a huge slice of Latino voters and gain whiter, more affluent ones under the revisions.

In the end, we think they're both kind of missing the point. New districts will push self-protecting incumbents into the unfamiliar territory of having to win individual voters' approval, not just that of their party. Elections have become a total snore in this state. As Bloomberg News notes today, it's a wonderful sign that both sides are mad:

Most analysts say Republicans would lose at least two congressional seats if the new map withstands political and legal challenges. Meanwhile, veteran Democratic lawmakers would be pitted against one another in a handful of newly drawn districts that take no account of their seniority. ...
Yet stripping the Legislature of redistricting powers should have some positive effects on the margins. At least some of the newly drawn districts should be more amenable to moderates of both parties. In addition, citizen-driven redistricting should be a healthy complement to the state's new system of open primaries, in which candidates of all parties compete in a single primary, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election regardless of party affiliation.

One thing rightbloggers will have to come to terms with: "The makeup of the state now is 60 percent nonwhite," Mirken says. "That's just a reality. And everybody out there is going to have to get used to it."

Review the new districts here. Got a problem with 'em? Mouth off here. Because that's how democracy do.

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

Tags:

Congress, Democrats, Greenlining Institute, Latinos, political parties, redistricting, Republicans, rightbloggers, State Assembly, State Senate, voters

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Chris King

Wait until all the "Minority Benefits" are passed onto the white man, then lets see how Democrat this new majority is. Besides, Latinos tend to be very Conservative in nature. The Democraps have simply been saying what the Latinos want to hear. Bye Bye Dems!

Holly H Wilson

thanks for links, too, sim one

Redspotincd14

LA Observed Kevin Roderick on Joseph Mailander.

“My post yesterday about the Daily Breeze story on Fernando Guerra prompted a blast at me from blogger Joseph Mailander, suggesting my motivation for linking to the story was—get this—anti-Latino racism because I’m supposedly “a suburban white guy.” In two years of blogging, nobody has written more inaccurate trash about me than Mailander’s tripe. I know from his email and the timing of his rants that he’s bitter I don’t link to him more. Lately he invented the racist thing, apparently to attack posts that did not sufficiently praise Antonio Villaraigosa. I know we’re supposed to laugh this stuff off—especially from idiots like Mailander—and when I get legitimate criticism I usually note it and move on. But I don’t take talk of racism lightly, and I also don’t want to encourage Mailander to tell more lies. So this time, I called him on it, pointed out he’s the most unethical blogger I’ve ever encountered, and asked that he back up his words with facts. He declined, but an exchangeensued here where I made my point, if sloppily. For background, here’s some history, some of Mailander’slegacy in the comments here that prompted a few L.A. Observed readers to call him anti-Semitic, and Marc Cooper’s post about earlier Mailander antics. Sorry, I don’t usually do personal stuff here—and believe me, I won’t be making a habit of it.”Note how Mailander's "thought process spins" over time.

Mike

Joseph Mailander has played both sides of the political fence for years. His true right wing repugnant self has never been more clear than of late in his writings.

Joseph Mailander

Simone, I think you know I'm not on the right and I think you know I'm not racist and I think you know I'm not paranoid. But if you're striking back for some reason, why not simply state those reasons? You may yet be right about something.

I spelled out my analysis in a post to which CityWatch linked but you didn't. http://street-hassle.blogspot.... It talked about the way the commission's mission is supposed to keep similar communities together. The new Assembly District that runs from Studio City to Commerce literally stretches from pristine park land to slaughterhouses. It runs from high concentrations of upper-middle homeowners to high concentrations of poor renters. It's not a good district by any means.

I segmented the commissioners by race because I saw that one of the commissioners had: she had been president of the California La Raza Lawyers Association. Hence my moniker, "La Raza Democrats."

Finally, to talk inside shop is tiresome, but I don't consider myself estranged from the Weekly (nor a blogger, nor even a freelancer--I'm just a writer, though sometimes what I write ends up in print, and sometimes online, and sometimes in a slush pile and sometimes in the ether of a poetry reading). In fact, I send Drex and Jill story ideas all the time. If they don't respond, or snicker, or whatever--that's who might be the estranged ones.

Joseph Mailander

Speaking of white paranoia, my broader point refers to the fact the commission's mission is to bring together "those common to areas in which the people share similar living standards." Yet the commission in many cases yokes clusters of upper-middle homeowners to clusters of poor renters, as it does with Studio City and Los Feliz, linking them all the way through east LA to Commerce. My fear is not what Brown might do for me, but that a such district like this, linking parkland to slaughterhouses, will simply elect someone who lipsynchs the cosmetic expectations while pandering to the general bourgeois interests--and serving, in general, no progressive interest at all.

I would have liked it better if you would have also linked to the post that spelled out these things, as CityWatch did. Here it is: http://street-hassle.blogspot....

Also, I don't know that it's "racist" to point out that Ms. Reyes was president of the California La Raza Lawyers Association, but if it is, so be it, and hence my moniker "La Raza Democrats." That single fact was the original impetus I must admit to lead me to do the segmenting of the commission by race, which I certainly found interesting, and still do.

By the way, since you referred to the private dialog I have with your organization--I don't consider myself perfectly estranged here (nor a freelancer or a blogger either--I'm just a writer, but sometimes the content ends up in print and sometimes online, and sometimes it ends up in the ether of a poetry reading). But in fact, I send things to Drex and Jill all the time. When they don't respond, or when they giggle privately, or whatever--that makes them the estranged, not me. When you run into someone who's consistently unresponsive, you simply wait for either common courtesy or regime change to come along whenever it may.