San DiegoSan Diego—New voting maps for San Diego County will shift the lines of representation, establishing a majority Latino district in South County, and another central district with high numbers of Latino, Asian, Black and immigrant populations.
The new map, approved Dec. 14, establishes District 1, currently represented by Supervisor Nora Vargas, as a minority-majority Latino district in South San Diego, including the cities of Imperial Beach, National City and Chula Vista.
More than 61 percent of its total population, and more than 52 percent of its voting-age citizens are Latino, creating a voting block with the power to elect its candidates of choice. Its total population is also about 17 percent White, more than 11 percent Asian and 5.3 percent Black. Vargas could not be reached for comment.
District 2, represented by by Supervisor Joel Anderson, covers East County and much of the unincorporated backcountry, along with the cities of El Cajon, Santee and Poway. Anderson declined to comment on the new supervisorial district.
The placement of El Cajon triggered a flurry of last-minute changes after it was initially included with urban neighborhoods in District 4 under the final draft map.
Scores of people from the Chaldean Iraqi Christian community packed the commission meeting to protest that configuration, arguing that El Cajon belonged as part of District 2 in rural East County.
The commission agreed to return El Cajon to District 2 and add the unincorporated communities of Paradise Hills and part of Spring Valley, both with high Black populations, into District 4.
The final version of District 2 has a population that’s about 57 percent White, 21 percent Latino, more than 10 percent Asian and 3.4 percent Black.
District 3, represented by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, forms a coastal district extending from Coronado to Carlsbad. Its total population is almost 59 percent White, nearly 19 percent Asian, more than 13 percent Latino and 1.8 percent Black.
Lawson-Remer said she’s sorry to lose some of the communities she represented, but believes the interests of the new district will align well.
“As a resident of Encinitas, I know that this new district shares many of the same priorities,” she said. “Sea-level rise, coastal erosion, stormwater pollution, rising housing costs, and traffic are all important to this district and I will continue to fight for aggressive action from our county government as the representative for District 3.”
In District 4, served by Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher, central portions of the city of San Diego including City Heights and North Park join Lemon Grove, La Mesa and the communities of Rancho San Diego, Campo, Paradise Hills and part of Spring Valley. It forms an ethnically diverse district with high numbers of minority voters and immigrant and refugee communities.
The District 4 population is more than 38 percent White, 33 percent Latino, 13 percent Asian and 8.7 percent Black – the highest percentage of Black residents of any district.
Fletcher said he’s eager to learn about new areas in his district and build relationships with those communities.
“Each community is unique and defined by its identity, needs, and people and I am excited to get to know a few new communities and work to deliver for them,” Fletcher said in an e-mail.
The new map maintains District 5, represented by Supervisor Jim Desmond, as a North County district, but with key changes. The updated version adds the city of Escondido and moves the city of Carlsbad to District 3.
The boundaries for District 5 now include the state Route 78 cities of Escondido, San Marcos, Vista and Oceanside as well as Camp Pendleton. They also include the unincorporated communities of Fallbrook, Bonsall, Rainbow, Valley Center, Borrego Springs and several tribal reservations.
Desmond said that’s a bittersweet tradeoff to lose jurisdictions that have historically been part of the North County region.
“I’m disappointed to no longer represent Carlsbad and Rancho Santa Fe,” Desmond said in an e-mail. “I am happy to continue to represent the North County tribal reservations along with the inland North County unincorporated areas and the cities of Oceanside, Vista and San Marcos.
“I’m also glad that Escondido has been added to District 5, a city that has always identified with North County,” he said.
District 5 has nearly equal White and Latino populations, at about 43 and 41 percent respectively, along with 6.7 percent Asian and 2.8 percent Black residents.
Arcela Nunez-Alvarez, a community organizer and educator in Vista, testified in favor of incorporating Escondido and northern backcounty communities along the Interstate-15 corridor into District 5.
With a Latino population of nearly 52 percent, Escondido is culturally and politically important to that voting block, she said.
“We accomplished our objective in bringing the Latinx communities under one supervisorial district,” Nunez-Alvarez said. “Now our work begins to increase grassroots civic engagement.”
This year was the first time that San Diego County lines were drawn by an independent, bipartisan commission, without input or approval by elected officials.
Along with pioneering that process, the County of San Diego Independent Redistricting Commission had to contend with challenges from the pandemic. Throughout the spring all meetings were held virtually. And delays of U.S. Census results in the summer forced the commission to expedite development of the maps.
Fletcher said he has long supported independent commissions drawing district boundaries for elected officials.
“It is a difficult process and I appreciate their hard work and look forward to representing my new district,” he said.
The map took effect immediately upon adoption by the commission on December 14, but is subject to challenge by referendum for 30 days thereafter, Commission Chair David Bame said. To mount such a challenge, proponents would need signatures from more than 115,000 voters to start the referendum process.
The commission submitted the new map to the Registrar of Voters, and it will be applied to upcoming elections starting with the June 2022 primary election.
