Senators Temporarily Cover “Unrepresented” Areas of California

Senators Temporarily Cover “Unrepresented” Areas of California By Chris Micheli

As a result of the interaction of different provisions of law, and the odd-numbered and even-numbered Senate districts, there are instances each ten years for a geographic area of the state to either not have an elected senator representing some areas of the state, or other instances where an area is represented by a second senator. This anomaly is corrected in the following election cycle (e.g., in 2024).

 

In order to address this anomaly, the Senate Committee on Rules assigns current Senators to “represent” those currently “unrepresented” areas of the state for 2023 and 2024. Once new senators are sworn into office on the first Monday in December 2024 (representing the odd-numbered Senate Districts), this coverage will no longer be necessary.

 

On January 18, 2023, the Senate Rules Committee adopted what it calls the “Deferred Area Assignments.” The Senate’s Deferred Area Assignments are based upon the 2021 Certified Redistricting Maps. They are called “deferred areas” because these areas of the state do not have district until after the 2024 General Election.

 

According to Senate President pro tempore Toni Atkins, about 3.6 million Californians are “unrepresented” with the new Senate District maps. The Rules Committee’s action this week assigned a Senator to these deferred areas in order to provide constituent services.

 

As Senator Atkins explained at the hearing, these Deferred Area Assignments were made to ensure that all Californians have a voice in the State Senate and can obtain assistance from elected representatives. As a result, current senators are to provide constituent services to these citizens in the “unrepresented” areas. Again, the issue goes aways the first Monday in December 2024. In the meantime, all citizens are ensured access to government services.

 

By the way, the Senate has a term for those areas of the state where an existing odd-numbered district is covering an area(s) with a new even-numbered district – these are called “Accelerated Areas” in which constituents in these areas have two current Senators who represent them.

 

As a result of the Rules Committee’s action, during the next 22 months or so, the following state senators are “representing” additional areas of the state:

 

SENATOR

ADDITIONAL CONSTITUENTS REPRESENTED

Ben Allen (D)

85,000

Bob Archuleta (D)

52,000

Toni Atkins (D)

265,000

Catherine Blakespear (D)

120,000

Steve Bradford (D)

75,000

Anna Caballero (D)

300,000

Brian Dahle (R)

330,000

Bill Dodd (D)

54,000

Maria Elena Durazo (D)

96,000

Lena Gonzalez (D)

65,000

Shannon Grove (R)

145,000

Brian Jones (R)

125,000

Mike McGuire (D)

17,000

Caroline Menjivar (D)

276,000

Roger Niello (R)

182,000

Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh (R)

223,000

Steve Padilla (D)

233,000

Anthony Portantino (D)

128.000

Richard Roth (D)

287,000

Susan Rubio (D)

176,000

Kelly Seyarto (R)

188,000

Nancy Skinner (D)

144,000

Tom Umberg (D)

64,000

Aisha Wahab (D)

28,000

Scott Wilk (R)

19,000

 

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