Latino opportunities diminished in final California Redistricting maps

Maps fail to provide full opportunities in Central Valley, but may chart course for progress at Assembly and Congressional levels.

LOS ANGELES, CA -- California's Latino community will face significant challenges with achieving fair representation in the State Senate and in the Central Valley according to an analysis (attached) conducted by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund of the final draft maps released today by the state's Citizens Redistricting Commission. The analysis reveals that the draft Senate map reduces the number of districts where Latinos can effectively choose their elected leaders. In addition, Latino communities in the San Fernando Valley and Orange County would be located in Senate districts with a weaker Latino presence than their current districts.

NALEO Educational Fund Executive Director Arturo Vargas stated, "The Latino populations of the San Fernando Valley and Orange County have grown significantly over the last decade. Many Latinos in these areas are currently in State Senate districts where they have been gaining political power. The Commission's draft maps will make it more difficult for their voices to be heard in the electoral process."

In addition, the Commission's draft maps create only one district in the Central Valley at the State Assembly and Congressional levels where Latinos have an effective opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice. Mr. Vargas continued, "We are disappointed that the Commission did not create an additional Latino effective district in the Assembly and the Congress in the Central Valley to ensure that their maps reflect the growth of the area's Latino community."

The Commission's draft maps would add two additional Latino effective districts in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and one each in the Imperial County/Riverside County and San Diego County areas at the Assembly level. At the Congressional level, the draft maps would add Latino effective districts in the Imperial County/San Diego area and in the San Fernando Valley. Mr. Vargas noted, "We are pleased the Commission looked carefully at the Los Angeles area, and listened to the community when developing its second set of maps. The additional opportunities created in the Assembly and Congress will help Latinos elect leaders who will be responsive to their concerns."

Mr. Vargas concluded, "We believe that our voting rights attorney allies will be carefully examining the Commission's final maps to determine whether they comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), and whether litigation is warranted During the last decade, Latinos accounted for 90% of the state's growth, and nearly two of five Californians are Latinos. We believe the Commission did not completely embrace this unprecedented opportunity to ensure that the state's growing Latino population can achieve full and fair representation in California's democracy."

About NALEO Educational Fund
The NALEO Educational Fund is the nation's leading non-partisan, non-profit organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

Table 1

Latino Effective Districts* – State Assembly
Existing						Commission Final Draft Maps
Region	District #	Latino Share of CVAP					Region	District Name	Latino Share of CVAP
Central Valley	31	53.0%					Central Valle	FSEC 2	51%
Los Angeles metro area	39	62.4%						LASFE	52%
	45	50.8%						LADNT	51%
	46	67.8%						LAVSQ	50%
	50	71.4%						LAELA	60%
	57	57.4%						LASGL	58%
	58	63.4%						LACVN	51%
Inland Empire	61	49.8%						LADNN	56%
	62	54.5%						LAPRW	57%
Orange County	69	52.0%					Inland Empire	RLTFO	52%
								POMVL	51%
							San Diego County	SSAND	51%
							Orange County	SNANA	53%
							Imperial/Riverside Counties	COACH	50%

* Generally, districts with at least 50% Latino Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) are classified as "Latino effective" districts. In a few cases, we have categorized districts with 49% Latino CVAP as Latino effective districts because they are essentially performing as or are extremely likely to perform as Latino effective districts.

Source for district CVAP: For existing districts, analysis based on the U.S. Department of Justice's Special Tabulation of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate Data (2005-2009). For Commission final draft maps, Latino CVAP was taken from the districts on the Commission's interactive website as of 7/28/11.

Table 2

Latino Effective Districts – State Senate
Existing							Commission Final Draft Maps
Region	District #	Latino Share of CVAP					Region	District Name	Latino Share of CVAP
Central Valley	16	50.9%					Central Valley	KINGS	51%
Los Angeles metro area	22	52.1%					Los Angeles metro area	LAELA	52%
	24	56.1%						LALBS	51%
	30	68.6%						LAPRW	50%
Inland Empire	32	51.8%					Inland Empire	POMSB	51%
Imperial County/Riverside County area	40	49.0%

Areas With Significant Reduction of Latino Presence in Districts – State Senate
Existing							Commission Final Draft Maps
Region	District #	Latino Share of CVAP				Region		District Name	Latino Share of CVAP
San Fernando Valley	20	47.0%				San Fernando Valley		LASFE	38%
Orange County	34	38.4%				Orange County		WSTSA	26%

Source for district CVAP: For existing districts, analysis based on the U.S. Department of Justice's Special Tabulation of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate Data (2005-2009). For Commission final draft maps, Latino CVAP was taken from the districts on the Commission's interactive website as of 7/28/11.

Table 3

Latino Effective Districts – Congressional
Existing							Commission Final Draft Maps
Region	District #	Latino Share of CVAP				Region		District Name	Latino Share of CVAP
Central Valley	20	50.5%				Central Valley		KINGS	49%
Los Angeles metro area	31	49.9%				Los Angeles metro area		DOWNTOWN		73%
	32	53.6%						DWWTR		51%
	34	64.8%						ELABH		50%
	38	65.3%						COMP		49%
	39	51.9%						COVNA		50%
Inland Empire	43	51.7%						SFVET		51%
						Inland Empire		ONTPM		52%
						San Diego/ Imperial County		IMSAN		51%

Source for district CVAP: For existing districts, analysis based on the U.S. Department of Justice's Special Tabulation of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate Data (2005-2009). For Commission final draft maps, Latino CVAP was taken from the districts on the Commission's interactive website as of 7/28/11.

SOURCE NALEO Educational Fund