When the Citizens Redistricting Commission approved their final electoral district lines on Monday, it could mean political change is coming to West Orange County. Most of West OC is represented in the U.S. Congress by long term conservative Republicans Ed Royce or Dana Rohrabacher.
The Commission created a new congressional district which does not leave an immediately obvious seat for Ed Royce.
“He’s in a really tough situation,” Said Los Alamitos Mayor Pro Tem Troy Edgar at Monday’s City Council meeting. “43% of the [new] district is in Orange County and the rest is in Los Angeles County.”
Currently, Royce’s 40th Congressional District includes Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Stanton, Villa Park, and Westminster.
According to the Commission’s final report, the new district, dubbed “CD 47 includes the Los Angeles County cities of Long Beach, Signal Hills and the Orange County cities and communities of Cypress, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Stanton, Rossmoor, and Westminster.
Thus, Royce will have to compete for the seat in Long Beach, an area which he currently does not represent. He will also lose whatever electoral support he previously had from the more easterly OC cities not in the new district.
It’s not easy to guess how the voters of Long Beach will embrace a conservative Orange County Republican as their next congressional representative. In the current districts, Long Beach is divided into three separate districts. Part of Long Beach is represented by Royce’s fellow GOP conservative Dana Rohrabacher. But, other parts are in districts currently held by Democrats.
In fact, according to at least one published report, Royce would not even be expected as the front runner in the new Long Beach dominated district.
“Long Beach City Councilmember Gary Delong has filed to run for Congress in
the newly created Long Beach Congressional seat,” reports the Long Beach Post. “He will run in the new all-candidate primary, with his top opponent expected to be Democratic State Senator Alan Lowenthal.”
The first election for the new districts will be next June’s primary, followed by the general in November. Most published reports seem to agree the new districts, for both state and congressional offices, are more favorable to Democrats than Republicans. So, of course, the Republicans can be expected to challenge the new boundaries either in court or through the initiative process.
Royce, who lives in Fullerton, probably will not even run in the new 47th district, opting instead to fight it out with fellow Republican Gary Miller of Diamond Bar for the new CD 39 which “includes northern Orange County and portions of eastern Los Angeles County and southern San Bernardino County. Cities and communities in this district include Brea, Chino Hills, Diamond Bar, Fullerton, La Habra, La Habra Heights, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, Walnut, and portions of cities of Chino, Industry, Buena Park and Anaheim to achieve population equality.” (from the commission’s final report)
On the coast, Republican veteran Dana Rohrabacher is much happier and Seal Beach residents are less likely to change U.S. Representatives than are residents of Rossmoor or Los Alamitos, This district essentially moved south out of Long Beach and further down the coast. But, Seal Beach is still included.
“This new district suits me and I’m suited for this district,” Rohrabacher said in a prepared statement as reported by the Daily Pilot. “There is a coastal culture in Southern California that
I’ve always identified with, especially in Orange County, and the residents have
always identified with me. The new 48th District is a good fit and something
that will enable me to serve my constituents and the country well.”
Rohrabacher’s current district includes Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Avalon, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills Estates as well as portions of Long Beach, Westminster, Santa Ana and San Pedro.
The new district, CD 48, “includes the coastal portion of Orange County. Cities and communities in this district include Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Fountain Valley, Midway City, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, and portions of the cities of Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Westminster. Splits include a portion of Huntington Beach to achieve population equality.” (From the Commission’s final report.)
Thus, for West OC, it seems likely Rossmoor and Los Alamitos will get a new U.S. Representative by the end of this year. The people of Seal Beach will probably not see a change.
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About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
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