New District Maps Sever San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano from Riverside

San Clemente and will likely be looking at new representation in the California Senate and U.S. Congress under new district boundaries carved out Monday.

Final redistricting maps approved by the 14-member, bipartisan California Citizens Redistricting Commission group the two most southern Orange County cities with the other South County cities, as well as northern San Diego communities.

The new maps sever the coastal towns from eastern Riverside communities, currently clustered together under representation from U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Riverside). 

The plans—to be used for the next decade—show new boundaries for California’s 40 state Senate districts, 53 congressional districts and 80 state Assembly districts, as well as the Board of Equalization districts, which handle taxation issues.

Designed by the bipartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission, the plan demolishes what some experts are calling an “incumbent-oriented” map, and at the same time, is drawing criticism from special-interest groups and the GOP.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, in other areas of the state, the new maps position Democrats to take a two-thirds majority in the state Senate. The majority is needed to raise taxes.

Assembly District

The borders of South Orange County’s new assembly district 73 now extend north to encompass most of Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, as well as most of the Ortega Highway in Orange County, cutting off at Lake Elsinore.

Diane Harkey (R-Dana Point) is the current assemblywoman for this district encompassing San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. Future Assembly candidates will have to garner enough votes from the three new cities to win their seats.

State Senate District

San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano are the only two Orange County cities currently in state Sen. Mark Wyland’s 38th District, which is mostly in San Diego County.

Now the district Wyland (R-Carlsbad) represents has shrunk back from San Diego County, ending just south of Encinitas and bordered on the east by Fallbrook and Bonsall. It still encompasses Camp Pendleton and now extends to cover Mission Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo in Orange County—the new state Senate district is 36.

The new district 36 is reported to have the second highest percentage of Republicans, topped only by the new district 16 in the Chowchilla area.

Wyland was elected to the 38th District in November 2010 and has no intention to run for another Senate seat when his term ends in 2014, spokeswoman Julie Hooper said.

"Actually, he is planning to run for the Board of Equalization," she said.

Future state senators elected from district 36 will need to pay more attention to voters in South Orange County cities to garner seats. The district is extended into some territory in what was district 33, represented by state Sen. Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Niguel), who has indicated that she may lead a referendum against the redistricting move.

The 33rd District no longer includes Fullerton and portions of Buena Park, Anaheim, sections of Orange, Villa Park, Tustin, Silverado, a slice of Irvine, and a small, very Republican segment of Santa Ana.

Walters did not immediately return a requesting a response to the district changes.

Congressional District

The new 49th Congressional District is perhaps the most drastic change for the South Orange County area. Rep. Calvert—a lifelong Riverside resident who serves a large swath of that area—will no longer represent a sliver of Orange County that currently includes San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Coto de Caza and Las Flores.

Only San Juan, Dana Point and San Clemente are included in the new 49th District, which stretches down to encompass Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Vista, Encinitas, Solana Beach, cut off at the south by Del Mar and to the east by Fallbrook and Bonsall, roughly the area now represented by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican.

The new 49th District will remain predominately composed of Republicans.

The Times reports that the redistricting plan could be put on pause if Walters and others are successful in a referendum against it. The California Supreme Court would then draw up the district boundaries for the next election in 2012.

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CURRENT AND FUTURE DISTRICT BOUNDARIES:

New Maps

Old Assembly District Maps

Old Senate District Maps

Old Congressional District Maps