The independent state redistricting commission released its draft maps today and the proposed changes represent a jolt to the established political order. Biggest local loser: Democrat Jerry McNerney (pictured) in the East Bay, whose 11th congressional district would disappear.Add: The Bay Citizen has sketched out how things would change for the 2012 election if adopted as part of new boundary lines that must be in place by August. Here are highlights with respect to the Bay Area:
- San Francisco would have one state Senate seat instead of two, because the proposal gets rid of the gerrymandering that lumped Leland Yee’s seat in with San Mateo County and Mark Leno’s in with Marin.
- Most all of Contra Costa County from the Caldecott Tunnel to Clayton will be in one district, absorbing part of McNerney’s 11th; another district centered around Stockton would absorb the rest.
- Rep. George Miller’s (D-Martinez) district gets moved north with only a tiny part of Contra Costa that he’s served for 36 years remaining his. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) gets Richmond (currently served by Miller) and John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) gets the blue-collar swath of Contra Costa communities along Suisun Bay, including Miller’s own hometown of Martinez.
- And for whoever succeeds the retiring Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), they’d better develop some chops beyond Marin and Sonoma counties. That realigned district would hug the coast all the way to the Oregon border.
