Politico: Problems for Harlem and Watts

[Torie]

Poor Hispanics don't vote much in LA, so blacks can easily win a district that is say 30%, black, 10% Asian, 50% Hispanic, and 10% Anglo. And in fact they do - like clockwork. Heck, you can even be someone like Maxine Waters, and win.

[Torie]

Here is a precinct map of the Bush-Kerry race in CA. The data takes a long time to load over the google earth template, but hey, the maps are pretty!  

[Torie]

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Er, no (e.g., lots of Jews, and other assorted and sundry Hollyweird types trying to climb the industry ladder into fame and fortune, and in the meantime wait tables).

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A lot of the Asians in this district are not citizens, so no to that too. It is possible of course, but highly unlikely. And some of the Koreans vote GOP, along with some of the Persians in Los Feliz (are Persians Asian for census purposes?). Check out the precincts.

[Torie]

Muon2, I tend to doubt that your CD 38 would be legal if the new California redistricting law is extended to cover the drawing of Congressional lines via passing the initiative this November that does that. It is very erose, cuts through three counties, does not hew to municipal boundaries, and is probably not necessary to draw in such a fashion to create some legally mandated minority majority district. Are you taking that into consideration when you draw your lines?

[Torie]

I don't think there is any legal requirement to create additional majority minority districts with lines that erose; indeed it might be illegal. Either way, not legal, or not legally required, if the new law passes, the districts must be more compact than CD 38, and respect community lines more (some of the metrics about that are fairly detailed iirc), unless federal law dictates otherwise. Make sense?