ShareThisBy JIM BOREN
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By every account, this was going to be the toughest re-election test of Rep. George Radanovich's 12 years in Congress. His opponent was well-funded, articulate and had some good ideas. Making matters worse for Radanovich, he had been coasting the past few years and seemed to be losing touch with his San Joaquin Valley constituents.
For a time, the Republican from Mariposa was nervous about his encounter with Democrat TJ Cox of Fresno. In a panic, he sent out a fund-raising letter last year saying he was under attack from union bosses and liberals. Radanovich thought he'd have to spend a lot more time in California this year fighting for his congressional seat, and he started showing up at Valley events.
But a few weeks ago, Radanovich's campaign took a poll of the 19th District. The absentee congressman was 20 points ahead of his opponent. What a relief for Radanovich, who once promised to serve no more than 10 years in Congress. Cool. His life could go back on cruise control.
Quite simply, Radanovich was bulletproof because of a gerrymandered district that twists through five counties picking up Republicans and dodging Democrats. You can do that with sophisticated mapping and computers to draw precise boundaries. The 19th District was designed to prevent a Democrat from winning.
On Election Day, Radanovich got 60 percent of the vote, just under the 65 percent he had been getting in previous elections against opponents who had no money and barely ran campaigns. Cox's campaign was doomed even before he shook hands with the first voter.
If you thought Radanovich wasn't paying attention to his district before, now he knows he can represent the 19th District by remote control. If the district doesn't change, he doesn't ever have to worry about re-election short of getting convicted of a felony. George Radanovich, congressman for life.
It's districts like Radanovich's that scream out for redistricting reform in California. The lesson of Tuesday's election is that voters can't hold him accountable, even in a year when there is a national backlash against Republicans.
The irony is that Radanovich would be a better congressman if he had to run in a competitive district. He'd have to spend more time in the Valley instead of Washington, D.C., and he would have a better handle on the issues and problems facing the 19th District.
But Radanovich isn't the only elected official in California benefiting from gerrymandered districts. These protected zones are in every part of the state, shielding members of the Assembly and state Senate, as well as California's congressional delegation.
One of the worst districts is the 23rd Congressional District represented by Democrat Lois Capps. It stretches 200 miles along the Pacific coastline from Monterey to Ventura County. It picks up Democratic neighborhoods and avoids Republican neighborhoods.Capps barely lifted a finger to win 65 percent of the votes against her Republican opponent.
Redistricting must be taken out of the hands of the Legislature and given to an independent commission. But it's clear that the only way the redistricting system will be changed is for the voters to do it on their own through the initiative process. Legislative leaders have said they will reform the process, but then they find a way to block a change.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez is already promising to push a reform measure in the next session. He said that this year, and then used a technicality to kill a Senate reform that would have put a redistricting measure before voters. Nunez may say he supports redistricting reform, but his actions say he's lying.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to make a change last year, but his redistricting reform initiative got lumped in with last year's reform package and voters killed every proposal in the special election.
It's nothing new to have gerrymandered districts. But the California Legislature in 2001 created a system to make every incumbent happy, not just those from the party in power. The Democrats and Republicans signed a don't-compete clause, with their redistricting legislation essentially guaranteeing that both parties would continue to hold the seats they already had.
That guarantee has held up in every election until this one. There was a tiny crack in the incumbent protection act. Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, lost his North Valley seat.
It would be best if the Legislature and governor came together on a redistricting reform bill and put it before the voters. But that's not going to happen. It's time for a reform group to do something about non-competitive elections, and qualify an initiative for the ballot.
George Radanovich wouldn't be stopping to ask for directions when visiting his district if redistricting reform forced him to meet more of his constituents.
Jim Boren is The Fresno Bee's editorial page editor. E-mail him at jboren(at)fresnobee.com.
