The new legislative district maps are out and they show some changes to the legislative makeup of Tustin. One surprise is the change in state senatorial districts. According to the map, we no longer reside in District 33 that previously took in  parts of 21 cities in Orange County. Our new district will be District 37. This District, carved out of the current one, looks to lop off Fullerton and RSM plus parts of a few other cities. The “new” district preserves the Republican makeup of the area with 44.2% Republicans and 22.2% DTS (which is just code for Republican fed up with hardcore Republican antics).

Our new Assembly District is even more refined. Taking in all of Tustin, it excludes, for better or worse, the City of Irvine and any city that begins with Laguna.

So, what will this all mean for our fair city? Likely, not much. For those of us used to state political dysfunction (I’m a former union board member and grassroots lobbyist for public safety), this should prove an interesting round of musical chairs. However, it should be noted that the number of registered Republicans has declined 7.4% and the number of Democrats has risen a modest .4%. As I said though, the DTS are running a strong “3rd party” at 21.1%.

It is interesting to note that the only commissioner to oppose the new districts was the commissioner from Orange County. Michael Ward from Fullerton, felt that too much attention was paid to ethnic groups. Federal law forbids splitting ethnic groups but apparently that was a minor point for Ward.

The maps, while not final final, are…. well, final. That is, they are in the public review period and will be made final in a vote on August 15th. Only technical, minor changes can be made at this point. I doubt we will see any change from the current maps. But, you can expect to see fireworks all around us as Santa Ana, Garden Grove and other heavily minority districts move to protest and lawsuit.