Redistricting Could Throw Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D) into a GOP District

Let's hope this plan holds together:

An early draft of new congressional district boundaries does away with the Democratic Latino district now represented by Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, and puts Sanchez into a largely coastal, GOP-controlled district now largely represented by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa.

The draft also creates a heavily Asian district centered around Little Saigon.

I’ve spoken with two people from the independent citizens commission drawing up the lines, and both emphasized that these district lines will undergo several rounds of revision.

“These are working maps,” said Jodie Filkins Webber, a commissioner and an attorney based in Orange.

“This is a very preliminary stage. We welcome input. We hope people will look at these closely and let us know their concerns.”

But some observers are concerned that the commission is not adequately taking into account federal guidelines regarding ethnic minorities and redrawing district boundaries.

I guarantee there will be a Voting Rights challenge to this plan because the Hispanic population gets split up instead of being crammed into one district to guarantee a Hispanic Democrat representative. However, the committee that's making these decisions doesn't seem too worried about it, so we'll see what happens.