BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Alex Padilla, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1752 HEARING DATE: 6/17/14
AUTHOR: FONG ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 5/13/14
FISCAL: NO
SUBJECT
Redistricting: incumbent designation
DESCRIPTION
Existing law provides in the first election for Representative
in Congress, State Senator, Assemblymember, and Member of the
Board of Equalization (BOE) following the adjustment of
boundaries of districts, the candidate who is considered the
incumbent in the race shall be based on the following:
a) If a candidate is running for the same office which he or she
holds, and is running for reelection in a district that has
the identical boundaries and number as the district from
which he or she was last elected, that person is deemed to be
the incumbent;
b) If there is no candidate for which (a) applies, but there is
a candidate running for the same office which he or she
holds, and is running for reelection in a district that has
the identical boundaries as the district from which he or she
was last elected, but which has a different number, that
person is deemed to be the incumbent;
c) If there is no candidate for which (a) or (b) applies, but
there is a candidate running for the same office which he or
she holds, and who is running for reelection in a district
that has the identical number as the district from which he
or she was last elected, that person is deemed to be the
incumbent; provided, however, that a candidate for Assembly
is considered the incumbent in this case only if the district
bearing the same number is located in the same county as the
district which previously bore that number;
d) If there is no candidate for which (a), (b), or (c) applies,
but there is a candidate running for the same office that he
or she then holds, and who is running for reelection in a
district that contains some portion of the territory
previously contained within the district from which he or she
was last elected, that person is deemed to be the incumbent;
provided, however, that in a new district that contains
portions of the territory of more than one former district,
the incumbent is the candidate whose former district includes
the largest portion of the territory of the new district;
and,
e) If there is no candidate for which (a), (b), (c), or (d)
applies, any candidate for the same office that he or she
then holds and who fulfills the residential requirements of
law for candidacy within the district is considered the
incumbent.
Existing law establishes the Citizens Redistricting Commission
(CRC), and gives it the responsibility for establishing the
district lines for State Senate, Assembly, Congress, and the
BOE.
This bill provides in the first election for Representative in
Congress, State Senator, Assemblymember, or Member of the BOE
following the adjustment of boundaries of districts, if more
than one sitting member of a governmental body is running for
election in a new district, the candidate who is considered the
"incumbent" in the new district is the candidate whose district
has the largest portion of the population, as determined by the
most recent federal decennial census, instead of the candidate
who is running in a district bearing the same number as the
district represented by the candidate, if any.
This bill makes conforming changes to reflect that the CRC,
rather than the Legislature, is responsible for adjusting the
boundaries of Congressional, Legislative, and BOE districts
following the federal decennial census.
This bill also makes corresponding and technical changes.
BACKGROUND
Every ten years, following the completion of the Census, the
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boundary lines of Legislative, Congressional, and Board of
Equalization districts are required to be adjusted so that all
the districts for the same office have approximately equal
populations.
When district boundaries are adjusted, it is possible that more
than one sitting member of a house of the Legislature, of
Congress, or of the Board of Equalization, may end up in the
same district. In recognition of the potential for such a
situation, state law contains a method for determining which
candidate is considered the incumbent when two or more sitting
members are running against each other following the adjustment
of boundary lines. Under that method, if both sitting members
represent a portion of the new district in which they are
running, the member who is running for the district with the
same district number is considered the incumbent, and is able to
use the ballot designation of "Incumbent."
When the Legislature was responsible for drawing new district
lines, it typically numbered districts in a manner that was
designed to promote continuity in district numbers, so the
practical effect was that the person who represented a larger
portion of the new district was considered the incumbent. But
when the Citizens Redistricting Commission numbered districts,
it did so in a manner that much more strictly followed the
geographic placement of the districts.
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COMMENTS
1. According to the Author : The purpose of allowing a
candidate to use the ballot designation "Incumbent" is to
provide information to voters about the individual who has
been representing them. In light of that fact, state law
should give priority to the person who represents the largest
population from the new district, rather than the person who
is running in the same district number.
AB 1752 ensures that a candidate who represents the largest
population in a new district following redistricting will be
considered the incumbent in that district. Additionally, AB
1752 updates California law to reflect the fact that
redistricting of Legislative, Congressional, and Board of
Equalization districts is now carried out by the Citizens
Redistricting Commission.
2. Prior Legislation : AB 2444 (Crown), Ch. 1238, Statutes of
1961, established the existing rules that are used to
determine incumbency after redistricting. Those rules have
not been materially changed since that time.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 6-0
Assembly Floor: 74-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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