Reapportionment Wars: Party, Race, and Redistricting in California, 1971-1992

Abstract

The 1980s was the decade of reapportionment in California politics. Ever since 1910, when Los Angeles passed San Francisco in population and the first urban-rural and sectional conflict over redistricting bitterly divided the state's legislature, the issue has disrupted politics every ten years. (Wilkening, 1977.) But never before has it lasted for the entire decade, coloring political events nationally as well as locally and spilling over into the next reapportionment cycle. From 1981 to 1991, Republicans contended that if only they could obtain a "fair" reapportionment through a court or commission, they would control the congressional delegation and that of the lower house of the state legislature. Attempting to overturn what they considered partisan gerrymanders, the GOP sponsored seven largely unsuccessful referenda on the subject from 1982 to 1990 and flirted with leaders of minority groups, offering them safely "packed" seats at the expense of Anglo Democrats.