Redistricting of California's districts for the U.S. House of Representatives
A gerrymandered congressional district, the 11th CD of CA, drawn to favor Republican Richard Pombo. While the Danville area is a traditional Republican stronghold, Morgan Hill is not, and it was added to obtain the proper population numbers for the 11th after Livermore was assigned to the 10th at the behest of the incumbent Democrat, since it contains the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (located near the "580" shield) and she sat in the House Energy Committee. The 10th CD is immediately north of the 11 in Contra Costa and Solano Counties See text below and the California's 11th congressional district election, 2006 for an unexpected result that overcame this gerrymander.Carved out with the aid of a computer, this congressional district is a product of California's incumbent gerrymandering. This is the district of Democrat Grace Napolitano, who ran unopposed in 2004.
Redistricting in California is the process of redrawing the California State Senate, California Assembly, and federal congressional maps. It is usually done after each decennial census and subsequent reapportionment. California is one of eight states with an independent commission. It was created by voters in 2008 when they passed a ballot measure to take redistricting power away from the Legislature for state Assembly and Senate districts. In 2010, voters added congressional redistricting to the commission's duties. The commission's makeup is 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 4 unaffiliated citizens, chosen from business people, professors, or community leaders.
