California GOP chairman will not seek another term

The chairman of the California Republican Party has decided not to seek another term.

Tom Del Beccaro, who was elected as head of the state GOP in 2010, announced his decision in an email to party insiders this week, saying "it is time for me to pause from Party politics."

In the missive, he said he was working on two political books and wanted to spend more time with his family.

"That doesn't mean that I will be leaving the cause -- just joining a different phase that has always been a goal of mine," he wrote of his decision.

Del Beccaro's tenure at the helm of the state GOP has been a rocky one, marked by declining registration numbers and financial troubles.

Republican strategists had criticized him for his role in a plan to spend millions of dollars on a referendum in hopes of tossing out newly drawn state Senate districts. After getting the measure on the November ballot, organizers dropped their campaign for it, citing a state Supreme Court ruling that the districts were drawn properly.

The party's elected leaders, led by U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), started their own recruitment and fundraising operations.

For his part, Del Beccaro cited his work on Latino outreach.

"The number one issue for me was always talking to more voters and beginning a sincere dialogue with the Latino community and other voters like that," he told the Sacramento Bee. "That's what I said I wanted to do and that's what I spent a lot of time doing and I feel good about that."

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GOP activists behind redistricting referendum drop campaign plans

Republican activists went to the trouble of qualifying a measure for the November ballot to overturn new voting districts for the state Senate.

But with the state Supreme Court having upheld the legality of the redistricting plan, those behind Proposition 40 said Thursday they will not campaign to have the districts tossed out. If a majority votes "no" on the referendum, the redistricting plan would be overturned.

In an statement submitted for inclusion in the official ballot pamphlet, Orange County businesswoman Julie Vandermost wrote that the goal of the measure had been to make sure the new Senate maps were not being used for this year’s election.

But the Supreme Court decision resulted in the new Senate maps being used in the June primary and they will apply for the  November general election.

"With the court's action, we are no longer asking for a no vote," wrote Vandermost, chairwoman of Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting, a group that also includes state Sen. Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Niguel).

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GOP referendum on state Senate districts qualifies for fall ballot

California voters will get a chance in November to decide whether to approve new boundaries for state Senate districts drawn by a citizens panel. Republican activists qualified a referendum on the controversial maps Friday.

Elections officials determined that the group Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting turned in 511,457 valid signatures of registered voters, about 6,000 more than were needed to put the referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot.

"FAIR will be asking voters in November to vote 'no' on these faulty Senate maps, so that new, fair and competitive districts can be drawn and put into place for the rest of the decade,” said Dave Gilliard, a Republican political consultant for the group. He said the districts were gerrymandered by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which used new census data to redraw the 40 Senate districts. 

State Democratic Party Chairman John Burton said the referendum is "sour grapes" by Republicans who did not get the political advantage they had hoped for in the new districts.

"I believe the voters are going to sustain the commission’s maps, just as they voted for the commission in the first place," Burton said.

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Federal judge dismisses final redistricting lawsuit

A federal court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Republican plaintiffs seeking to overturn California’s new congressional district maps, eliminating one of the last remaining challenges to the work of the independent citizens commission that drew new political lines for state and congressional offices.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson on Thursday dismissed the suit brought by former Rep. George Radanovich and four other Republicans, who alleged the commission had improperly used race as a factor in creating the new districts.  The suit cited three Los Angeles County districts that were drawn to encourage the election of African American representatives.

The plaintiffs had turned to federal court after the California Supreme Court turned down GOP challenges to congressional and state Senate district maps.

“Once again the work of the Citizens Redistricting Commission has been affirmed against baseless partisan attacks,” said Jeanne Raya, currently the commission’s chair, in a written statement.

“California voters created [the commission] in order to get partisan politics out” of creating new political districts, done every 10 years after the Census to adjust for population changes, Raya said. She added, “The federal court has found that the commission’s process complied with the law and was fair and representative.”

A representative for the plaintiffs could not be immediately reached for comment.

The only remaining challenge to the commission’s work is a  potential referendum on state Senate districts. Elections officials have until Feb. 24 to determine whether there are enough valid signatures to put the matter before voters in November. However, the state high court has already ruled that the commission’s new districts will be used in this year’s elections and would be changed only if voters get a say and reject them.

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Photo: Members of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission sign the new maps in August 2011. Credit: Associated Press

 

 

Justice Department signs off on California redistricting

The citizens commission that drew California’s new political maps won an important nod Tuesday from the Department of Justice, which  signed off on the new congressional, legislative and Board of Equalization districts for four Northern California counties.

The counties—Kings, Merced, Monterey and Yuba—were under scrutiny because of concerns about past possible violations of the federal Voting Rights Act.   The maps required approval, or “pre-clearance” in government jargon, from the federal agency.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. Thomas E. Perez delivered the news to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s attorney and to California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris in a two-paragraph letter.  “The Attorney General does not interpose any objection to the” new maps,  Perez wrote.

Stan Forbes, chairman of  the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, said in a statement that  the group was “pleased that the Department of Justice has found [the commission] complied with the Voting Rights Act in drawing the districts” for the four counties.

Forbes contrasted the approval  with the situation in Texas, where the federal court has intervened  in that state’s drawing of new maps.

The California commission drew the maps for the first time since voters took the redistricting job away from  the Legislature in hopes of getting less gerrymandered, more fairly drawn maps.

 Republicans, however, have challenged the commission’s state Senate district and congressional maps.  Elections officials are in the process of determining whether a proposed referendum on the  Senate maps  will qualify for the November ballot, and  a challenge to three Los Angeles-area congressional districts is pending in federal court.

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Photo: Two members of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission sign the new maps in August. Credit: Associated Press

 

 

 

Redistricting referendum signatures must be verified by Feb. 24

Counties will have until Feb. 24 to check all the signatures in a campaign to qualify a referendum on new state Senate district maps, the secretary of state’s office said late Tuesday.

The referendum effort, undertaken by a group of Republicans unhappy with the work on the state’s independent redistricting commission, failed to qualify during a random check of signatures and will require a full count. 

Referendum backers also have asked the state Supreme Court to draw new state Senate district maps in time for the upcoming California primary on June 5. The candidate filing period for most races closes on March 9 and the court is expected  to make a decision on the Republicans’ request by the end of the month.

The referendum, which would ask voters to reject the commission’s maps, needs 504,760 valid voter signatures to win a place on the November ballot.  Referendum supporters turned in 711,311 signatures in late November and a random sampling of some 34,000 found 26,221 to be valid.

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