Heat In California - (First Blog Before I Changed District)

Since 1998 the first district of California has been a Democratic district, and for more than ten years incumbent and Democrat Mike Thompson has held the seat for 5 terms and has now set his sights on a 6^th term in office. Rep. Thompson has easily won the elections and has had little or no problem trouble holding his seats when contested. Voters of the 1^st district have come out to vote for Rep. Thompson in droves, as he has received more than 65% of the votes in the last 8 years.

Challenger and Republican Loren Hanks is seeking to defeat incumbent Mike Thompson, and claim the seat for the Republican Party. Hanks is a retired Air Force Officer from the Reagan Era, and his agenda
features the typical conservative ideals and agenda that the government is spending too much. He feels that “big government agenda have put our economy, our prosperity and our freedoms in jeopardy,” and he believes he is the candidate to bring the 1^st district out of unemployment, towards better immigration reform and a smaller government.

This lections should be an interesting one because of the fact that republicans across the nation have been picking up steam and the democrats have been losing points in the polls. But the 1^st district of California has been a predominately democratic district for the past 12 years, with Rep. Mike Thompson at the helm. He has a great track record with his district, winning reelections by a landslide the past 8 years. Overall this election will come down to whom convinces the constituents that they are a better fit for the house seat. Hanks has more ground to cover being the challenger and going against an established representative with a fan base and a track record

Drawing the Line

Redistricting is the process of redrawing state legislative and congressional political borders of its electoral districts and constituencies every 10 years based on the results of decennial U.S. census. Redistricting is very important in the U.S. politics, especially for state representatives because it changes how large or small their district will be and can potentially rearrange the political atmosphere of the district. By changing the lines of a district you can increase or decrease the number of people within a specific party in that district. People of similar political alignment tend to group together, so by changing the lines, the political energy can shift also. Now there are strict laws against how districts are rearranged, but there is still always a chance of political parties will do some form of gerrymandering to the district.

Red State...Blue State

Gerrymandering is the illegal practice of drawing district lines to the benefit of one’s political party, to achieve political advantage. It involves the manipulation of lines drawn by leaving out or including specific sections of the district to gain the upper hand over opposing parties. By manipulating the electoral boundaries one can create a neutral, partisan and/or incumbent protected districts and attain desired electoral results for a particular party. Though gerrymandering can hinder, it can also be used to help social groups district not only political but racial, religious, class and linguistic groups as well.

U.S. Congressional District from 2000 to 2010

Like it or not redistricting is inevitability as it is specified in the United States Constitution and allows for districts to be better represented. Redistricting determines how much your elected officials listen to you on all issues, from health care to the economy. By changing the district it doesn’t allow for the constant monotony of having the district remain the same for years and years not allowing for population change that is sure to happen over the decades. It allows for changes in political and social groups over the years to be taken into comsideration paid attention to by the people in power.