Cavala: Republican Redistricting Scheme Loses Fig Leaf as the California Democratic Party Votes to Oppose It

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

The Sycuan Band of Native Americans, former Assemblyman Fred Keeley and Leon Panetta, also a former Congressman are all Democrats who support the Governor’s redistricting scheme. The California Democratic Party – the legal body representing the
16,123,787 voters registered as Democrats – opposes that scheme.

Will the press corps seize upon the half dozen or so big-name Democratic supporters of the Governor’s scheme to label it “bi-partisan”? You betcha.

Panetta is fronting a group of big money people self-labeled “moderates”. But his support of redistricting ‘reform’ is suspicious. It was Panetta, through his two legislative representatives, the late Senator Henry Mello and the current Congressman from the area, Sam Farr, who held up the redistricting plan ultimately passed by Democratic votes and signed into law by then Governor Brown. This was the plan that kept Ronald Reagan and the Republicans from taking over the House of Representatives in 1982. Panetta’s insistence forced changes in the population of his and adjacent seats that would have made the entire plan vulnerable to the litigation to which it was ultimately subjected. Rather than run that risk, Speaker Brown prevailed upon then Secretary of State March Fong to “redo” Panetta’s district after-the-fact, reversing the change he had insisted upon.

Panetta has been for “reform” ever since.

Fred Keeley joins him for similar reasons. In the 2001 redistricting, the termed out Keeley sought to have a Senate seat located over his political base. Speaker Hertzberg chose instead to locate one over the base of ally Dennis Cardoza – a seat lost to the
Democrats when Cardoza chose instead to take on wounded incumbent Rep. Gary Condit. The spurned Keeley has been a proponent of redistricting “reform” ever since.

One can only speculate as to the “good government” motives of the Sycuan Band of Native Americans.