Redistricting Experts Torch DOJ’s Race Claims In Newsom Prop 50 Map Fight
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The court battle over California’s controversial gerrymandering maps continued Tuesday, as defense experts pushed back on claims that the districts were drawn with race as the predominant factor…
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The court battle over California’s controversial gerrymandering maps continued Tuesday, as defense experts pushed back on claims that the districts were drawn with race as the predominant factor.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), along with California Republicans, sued Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and others involved in crafting the state’s new congressional redistricting maps, voted on as Proposition 50. After the first full day of hearings before a three-judge panel focused on plaintiffs’ witnesses arguing the maps were drawn along racial lines, defense witnesses took over Tuesday to argue the districts were the product of political partisanship, not racial considerations.
Key witnesses for the defense included Dr. Bernard Grofman, who has extensive experience in redistricting work, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution Dr. Jonathan Rodden.
During questioning from the defense, Grofman and Rodden focused on RealClearPolitics senior elections analyst Sean Trende’s review of the newly drawn Congressional District (CD) 13, which Trende accused of being drawn with race as a predominant factor.
Grofman argued that Trende’s assessment that CD-13 was carved to include Hispanic voters while leaving out some heavily Democratic areas was “nonsense.” Grofman testified that the only way to make CD-13 a strong Democratic seat would be to reach into the Stockton area while excluding some portions to ensure the neighboring district, Congressional District 9, also remained a Democratic stronghold.
Grofman summed his assessment down, stating that if map drawers were going to attempt to pick up Democrats in areas like CD13, they’re “going to pick up Hispanics” as well.
Like Grofman, Rodden pushed back on Trende’s conclusions regarding CD-13, stating he had been asked to assess whether he agreed with Trende’s determination that race predominated. Rodden said he did not reach the same conclusions, instead criticizing Trende’s analysis and use of