California's congressional districts

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California's congressional districts since 2023

California is the most populous U.S. state; as a result, it has the most representation in the United States House of Representatives, with 52 Representatives. Each Representative represents one congressional district.

Per the 2020 United States census, California lost a congressional seat which it had gained after the 2000 census, reducing its total seats from 53 to 52 starting from the 2022 elections and its subsequent 118th Congress.[1] This marked the first time in the state's history where it lost a seat.[2]

Current districts and representatives[edit]

List of members of the United States House delegation from California, their terms in office, district boundaries, and their political ratings according to the CPVI. The delegation for the 118th Congress had a total of 52 members, with 40 Democrats, 11 Republicans and 1 vacancy.

Current U.S. representatives from California
District Member
(Residence)[3] 		Party Incumbent since CPVI
(2022)[4] 		District map
1st
Doug LaMalfa
(Oroville)[5] 		Republican January 3, 2013 R+12
2nd
Jared Huffman
(San Rafael) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+23
3rd
Kevin Kiley
(Rocklin) 		Republican January 3, 2023 R+4
4th
Mike Thompson
(St. Helena) 		Democratic January 3, 1999 D+17
5th
Tom McClintock
(Elk Grove) 		Republican January 3, 2009 R+9
6th
Ami Bera
(Elk Grove) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+7
7th
Doris Matsui
(Sacramento) 		Democratic March 10, 2005 D+17
8th
John Garamendi
(Walnut Grove) 		Democratic November 5, 2009 D+26
9th
Josh Harder
(Tracy) 		Democratic January 3, 2019 D+5
10th
Mark DeSaulnier
(Concord) 		Democratic January 3, 2015 D+18
11th
Nancy Pelosi
(San Francisco) 		Democratic June 2, 1987 D+37
12th
Barbara Lee
(Oakland) 		Democratic April 21, 1998 D+40
13th
John Duarte
(Modesto) 		Republican January 3, 2023 D+4
14th
Eric Swalwell
(Livermore)[6] 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+22
15th
Kevin Mullin
(South San Francisco) 		Democratic January 3, 2023 D+28
16th
Anna Eshoo
(Atherton)[7] 		Democratic January 3, 1993 D+26
17th
Ro Khanna
(Fremont) 		Democratic January 3, 2017 D+23
18th
Zoe Lofgren
(San Jose) 		Democratic January 3, 1995 D+21
19th
Jimmy Panetta
(Carmel Valley) 		Democratic January 3, 2017 D+18
20th Vacant December 31, 2023 R+16
21st
Jim Costa
(Fresno) 		Democratic January 3, 2005 D+9
22nd
David Valadao
(Hanford) 		Republican January 3, 2021 D+5
23rd
Jay Obernolte
(Big Bear Lake) 		Republican January 3, 2021 R+8
24th
Salud Carbajal
(Santa Barbara) 		Democratic January 3, 2017 D+13
25th
Raul Ruiz
(Indio)[8] 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+6
26th
Julia Brownley
(Westlake Village) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+8
27th
Mike Garcia
(Santa Clarita) 		Republican May 19, 2020 D+4
28th
Judy Chu
(Monterey Park) 		Democratic July 14, 2009 D+16
29th
Tony Cárdenas
(Los Angeles) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+26
30th
Adam Schiff
(Burbank) 		Democratic January 3, 2001 D+23
31st
Grace Napolitano
(Norwalk) 		Democratic January 3, 1999 D+15
32nd
Brad Sherman
(Los Angeles) 		Democratic January 3, 1997 D+20
33rd
Pete Aguilar
(Redlands) 		Democratic January 3, 2015 D+12
34th
Jimmy Gomez
(Los Angeles) 		Democratic July 11, 2017 D+32
35th
Norma Torres
(Pomona) 		Democratic January 3, 2015 D+13
36th
Ted Lieu
(Torrance) 		Democratic January 3, 2015 D+21
37th
Sydney Kamlager-Dove
(Los Angeles) 		Democratic January 3, 2023 D+37
38th
Linda Sánchez
(Whittier) 		Democratic January 3, 2003 D+14
39th
Mark Takano
(Riverside) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+12
40th
Young Kim
(Anaheim Hills) 		Republican January 3, 2021 R+2
41st
Ken Calvert
(Corona) 		Republican January 3, 1993 R+3
42nd
Robert Garcia
(Long Beach) 		Democratic January 3, 2023 D+22
43rd
Maxine Waters
(Los Angeles) 		Democratic January 3, 1991 D+32
44th
Nanette Barragán
(Los Angeles) 		Democratic January 3, 2017 D+24
45th
Michelle Steel
(Fountain Valley) 		Republican January 3, 2021 D+2
46th
Lou Correa
(Santa Ana) 		Democratic January 3, 2017 D+15
47th
Katie Porter
(Irvine) 		Democratic January 3, 2019 D+3
48th
Darrell Issa
(San Diego)[9] 		Republican January 3, 2021 R+9
49th
Mike Levin
(San Juan Capistrano) 		Democratic January 3, 2019 D+3
50th
Scott Peters
(San Diego) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+14
51st
Sara Jacobs
(San Diego) 		Democratic January 3, 2021 D+12
52nd
Juan Vargas
(San Diego) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 D+18

Historical district boundaries[edit]

  • Districts from 2003 to 2013
    Districts from 2003 to 2013
  • Districts from 2013 to 2023
    Districts from 2013 to 2023

Redistricting[edit]

1992 court-ordered districting[edit]

The 1990 census gave California seven additional congressional seats. Legislative attempts to draw new districts failed, as Republican governor Pete Wilson vetoed all three plans made by the Democratic-controlled state legislature. In September 1991, the Supreme Court of California took over the redistricting process to break the stalemate and, under its direction, a panel of retired judges determined the boundaries of the new districts.[10][11]

2002 bipartisan redistricting[edit]

California's 38th congressional district, 2003-2013

After the 2000 census, the California State Legislature was obliged to complete redistricting[a] for House of Representatives districts (in accordance with Article 1, Section 4 of the United States Constitution) as well as California State Assembly and California State Senate districts. It was mutually decided by legislators that the status quo in terms of balance of power would be preserved - a so-called Incumbent Protection Plan.[12] A bipartisan gerrymandering effort was done, and districts were configured in such a way that they were dominated by one or the other party, with few districts that could be considered competitive. In some cases this resulted in extremely convoluted boundary lines.

In the 2004 elections, a win by less than 55 percent of the vote was quite rare. This was seen in only five out of 80 State Assembly seats and two out of 20 State Senate seats up for election. The congressional seats were even less competitive than the state legislative districts - just three of the 53 districts were won with less than 60 percent of the vote in 2004.

Citizens Redistricting Commission[edit]

2012[edit]

Proposition 11, a California ballot proposition known as the Voters FIRST Act, was approved by the voters on November 4, 2008. It removed from the California Legislature the responsibility for drawing the state's congressional districts, and gave the responsibility instead to a 14-member Citizens Commission.[13] The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of removing the responsibility from the legislature. The proposition also required that the districts drawn up (1) comply with the federal Voting Rights Act; (2) make districts contiguous; (3) respect, to the extent possible, the integrity of cities, counties, neighborhoods and "communities of interest"; and (4) to the extent possible, make districts compact. Several of these terms are not defined in law.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had earlier proposed placing the redistricting process in the hands of retired judges, which was on the November ballot as an initiative in a special election (called by the Governor on June 14, 2005), Proposition 77. The special election was held on November 8, 2005. However, the initiative was overwhelmingly defeated, with 59 percent voting no. All initiatives, including those proposed by the Governor's allies and several independent initiatives, failed that year.

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission certified final district maps on August 15, 2011, and they took effect with the 2012 election.[14] The new districts are described as more "purple" than "red" or "blue" - that is, more mixed in electoral composition compared to the mostly "safe" districts of the previous decade, where incumbents were almost guaranteed re-election. These new districts, combined with demographic trends over several decades that favored the Democratic party, resulted in a gain of four House of Representatives seats for California Democrats in the 2012 elections.

2022[edit]

The 14-member Commission for 2020 is made up of five Republicans, five Democrats, and four members who are not affiliated with either party. Initial and supplemental applications were forwarded to a review panel consisting of three independent auditors from the CA State Auditor. This panel selected 120 of the "most qualified applicants", who were then personally interviewed and divided into three equal sub-pools according to party affiliation, and then narrowed down to 60 applicants.[15]

The review panel presented those 60 applicants to the California State Legislature, where leadership had the option of removing up to 24 names from the list, eight from each sub-pool. The names of the remaining applicants were submitted to the California State Auditor, who randomly drew three Democrats, three Republicans, and two from neither of those parties. These eight individuals became the first eight members of the commission, and they selected the remaining six members by selecting two commissioners from each of the three sub-pools.[15]

The commission received the official 2020 U.S. census data on which the maps must be based, by law, on September 21, 2021. Draft maps were released then on November 21, and final maps were submitted to the California Secretary of State on December 27, 2021.[16] The new districts are considered "enacted" as of December 27, 2021. However, there was a 90-day period for a referendum petition to be filed to prevent the maps from becoming effective. This referendum period ended on March 27, 2022, when the filing and campaign season for the 2022 primary election was already underway. Even after becoming effective, the newly redrawn districts did not become official until the 2022 primary and general elections, and the new districts did not actually exist until after the 2022 general election was complete.[17] Starting from the 2023 inaugurations, the existing boundaries and elected representatives are as shown above.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The word "gerrymandering" is replaced with redistricting as the word "gerrymandering" refers, by definition, to the redrawing of districts to the advantage of a single party or for partisan gain.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Merica, Dan; Stark, Liz (April 26, 2021). "Census Bureau announces 331 million people in US, Texas will add two congressional seats". CNN. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Mason, Melanie; Mehta, Seema (April 26, 2021). "California to lose a congressional seat, according to new census data". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  3. ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. "Doug LaMalfa (California (CA)), 118th Congress Profile". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved December 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. "Eric Swalwell (California (CA)), 118th Congress Profile". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved December 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. "Anna G. Eshoo (California (CA)), 118th Congress Profile". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved December 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. "Raul Ruiz (California (CA)), 118th Congress Profile". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved December 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. "Darrell Issa (California (CA)), 118th Congress Profile". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved December 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Supreme Court takes over remapping job". Sacramento Bee. September 26, 1991. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  11. ^ "Court Remap Plan Could Cut Democrats' Clout in California". Washington Post. December 4, 1991. Retrieved September 3, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Latinos May Gain Few Seats in Redistricting; Politics: Their push for more representation in Congress clashes with Democrats' desire to protect incumbents as district boundaries are redrawn". Los Angeles Times. August 26, 2001. Retrieved September 5, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Citizens Commission website: background". Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  14. ^ "California Citizens Redistricting Commission | "Fair Representation - Democracy at Work!"".
  15. ^ a b "About Us".
  16. ^ "Press Releases".
  17. ^ "What New Districts Mean".
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