After the next U.S. Census in 2030, Merced County residents will get a say in how districts are drawn for the county’s Board of Supervisors.
That’s because California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed a new law, Assembly Bill 1441, authored by Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Merced, after the bill passed both houses of the state legislature.
AB 1441 will create an independent, 11-member commission to draw the new maps. Currently, the sitting county supervisors have that authority.
“This commission will be made up of voters across the political spectrum,” Soria said in a news release. “Merced County will now have an independent citizens redistricting commission that is chosen by their own community members — NOT chosen by elected politicians who are already in power. This bill will allow the residents of Merced to ensure their communities and interests are reflected in the districts used for their elections.”
The bill was cosponsored by Communities for a New California’s Action Fund and supported by a number of local labor groups, Central Valley Pride, Jakara Movement and the League of Women Voters of Merced County.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors staunchly opposed the bill, and the board’s chair, Josh Pedrozo, traveled to Sacramento a number of times to testify against the bill.
The timing of Newsom signing the bill into law underscored state leaders’ hypocrisy on the issue of redistricting, Pedrozo said in an interview with The FOCUS.
Newsom signed the bill into law after ballots hit voter mailboxes for Proposition 50, a statewide ballot initiative to redraw the state’s congressional districts, a response to gerrymanderinga similar plan in Texas that would give Republicans five additional house seats.
“I spent a lot of time going to Sacramento to testify, and every argument I used, I was told I was wrong,” Pedrozo said. “Now those arguments are being used to justify the passage of Prop 50.”
Despite his criticisms of state leaders, Pedrozo said he has nothing against AB 1441’s author, Assemblymember Soria.
Merced County officials will be responsible for forming the new citizen redistricting commission before the end of the year in 2030. The commission will hold a number of meetings and consider a number of maps before selecting the new maps by April 2032, though the law does provide for some flexibility on the deadlines, according to Soria’s staff.