California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission was created to take the power of drawing political districts out of the hands of politicians and put it where it belongs – with the people. Given how important that mission is, I wanted to hear directly from our community: do you believe the system is working?
An overwhelming 84% of respondents support keeping redistricting in the hands of an independent citizens’ commission, while just 7.5% believe it should be handled by the Legislature and elected officials. That tells me there is strong support for keeping politics out of the process.
Transparency also matters deeply to our community.
Nearly 90% of respondents said it is very important that redistricting decisions are made through an open process that allows for public input, with another 6.7% saying it is somewhat important. That means more than 96% of residents value transparency and community involvement when it comes to drawing district lines.
At the same time, there is a clear concern about what happens if that process changes.
More than 82% of respondents said they are concerned that giving redistricting power back to politicians could lead to gerrymandering, while fewer than 10% said they trust politicians to handle the process fairly.
And when it comes to using taxpayer dollars to revisit the system, residents were just as decisive.
After learning that a special election on this issue could cost more than $200 million, nearly 64% of respondents said they oppose holding a special election, compared to about 30% who support it.
Finally, when asked about confidence in California’s current redistricting system, the results show a community that sees room for improvement, but not a need to start over.
About 72% of respondents said they are at least somewhat confident in the current system, including nearly 28% who said they are very confident. However, about 28% expressed low confidence, reinforcing the importance of continued transparency and accountability.
What stood out most to me is that our community believes in the idea behind the Citizens Redistricting Commission. They support fairness, transparency, and keeping politics out of the process, but they also expect it to work effectively and remain accountable to the public.
These results reinforce what I hear across the district: protect what works, improve what doesn’t, and always keep the public at the center of the process.
I will continue fighting to ensure that California’s redistricting system remains fair, transparent, and truly representative of the people it serves.