Congressional District : 41 Riverside

The authors further explain their reasons for calling America a “racial democracy” and how conflicted they are. Jason Stanley and Weaver explain how minorities

Without a certain degree of control over the governmental levels of power, blacks end up disproportionately dependent on white-created legislation and white administration of those laws (Pohlmann, 219). The potential dangers of gerrymandering involves the distribution of blacks into districts where they are diluted into a minority or the creation of districts where blacks are an excessive majority so that an overall district majority white can be achieved (Thornburgh v. Gingles, 31). These redistricting plans severely hindered blacks ability to vote for a representative of their choice (1). However, in order to stem the progress of racially discriminating gerrymandering, these districts are examined based on the impact and district composition

The African-American community is comprised of 34 million people, and makes up approximately 12.8 percent of the American population (Barker, Jones, Tate 1999: 3). As such, it is the largest minority group in the United States. Yet, politically, the black community has never been able to sufficiently capitalize on that status in order to receive the full benefits of life in America. Today, African-Americans, hold less than 2 percent of the total number of elected positions in this country (Tate, 1994: 3) and the number of members within the community that actually partake in voting continues to drop. In spite of these statistics, as of 1984, a telephone survey found that 70

From the District Election Report (HOUSE DISTRICT 115-PLANH358 2016 General Election), data showed except the position of “President”, which 51.5% voted for Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton, won over Republican candidate Donald Trump, with all other positions including U.S. Rep, Sup Ct, CCA, and State Rep 115, Republican candidates won over Democratic candidates in this district.

Although tensions existed between both blocs, Harold Washington was able to prove that African American, like whites, could effectively run politics. The Mayor was able to renew the face of Chicago politics through a “rainbow coalition” that entailed the inclusion to high positions in the city government of “minorities, women, progressive whites and gays”. City agencies were more accountable, funds for social services were now given “to churches, social service organizations, and community organizations” so in this way there was not a patronage system been execute. He provided to many different communities the power needed to progress, a vision never seen before in Chicago. However, the City Council Wars saw an increased in the number committees going from 29 to 37 benefiting the “majority bloc supporters with chairmanships” and the budget for more council staff also grew. The end of Council Wars occurred when elections for aldermen took place in seven wards where racial inequality existed in Byrne’s remapping (CH7).

Upon examining the population characteristics of California’s 2nd Congressional district, in terms of wealth, the district is somewhat wealthier than the average for the U.S. with a median income of $65,414. The population of the district according to data from 2015 is 720,346, which is close to the target population California set forth when redrawing the districts in 2011, which is 701,000 people, the difference probably reflects

Since it is gerrymandered, the issues deal with representation of people. The leaders made it that way seeking their own benefit. Despite having 28.1%, Hispanics are not represented well in the committee. Asian also don’t have any representation. Representation is done based on the political advantage. They cut the district boundaries in such a way that it fosters their business rather than people’s sake.

The State of Texas, there are “79.4 % White, 12.8% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.8% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 1.9% Two or More Race, and 38.1% Hispanic or Latino: (Bureau, U.C. (2017)). In the United States the data is “79.9% White, 13.3 % Black, 1.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.7% Asian, 0.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 2.6% Two or More Races, and 17.8% Hispanic or Latino” (Bureau, U.C. 2017).

Furthermore, according to the Nevada Secretary of State, “Democrats registered to vote in the district far outnumbered registered Republicans, roughly 130,000 to 97,000”, giving the Democrats the upper hand on the Republicans based on their supporters inside the district. If we analyze these numbers, we can say that a Republican candidate will never be able to get elected as a representative for the 4th district because the Democrat and his fellow democrats will outweigh him by many. That’s why when a Republican, Crescent Hardy, went up against Horsford, a Democrat, who was the Representative for Nevada's 4th congressional district from 2012 to 2014 and the incumbent at that time, everyone thought that Horsford would be reelected with ease and that the race wouldn’t be a close one. To everybody’s surprise, Republican Cresent Hardy wins the race for Nevada's 4th Congressional District, defeating Steven Horsford by 3% according to American Community Organization (Crescent Hardy (R) 49% Steven Horsford (D) 46%). The explanation to this surprise according to the Cook political report was that the midterm elections tend to have lower voter turnout, and 2014 was an exceptionally bad year, with 50 percent less voters showing up at the polls

To comprehend the issue of racial redistricting and representation in Congress, it is important to have a good understanding of the basic historical and contemporary concepts involved. Currently, racial gerrymandering is defined as a process of creating heavily minority populated Congressional districts, or majority minority districts (Grofman 359). The purpose of these districts is to enfranchise and empower the black electorate through increased political representation in order to overcome a history of discrimination. Generally, a majority minority district needs 65% or more black voters in order to possess meaningful representative power and, more to the point, elect black

The public officials representing Michigan are a diverse group of people. Prior to completing the Michigan Officials journals I thought majority of Michigan officials were Caucasian wealthy republican men. My research for the public official journals allowed me to see that wasn’t the case. Throughout my research I’ve learned about different positions of U.S and Michigan government and how each role works together to create a successful government.

The 40th district contains these communities: Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Downey, Huntington Park, Maywood, Paramount, Vernon and some parts of Bellflower, East Los Angeles, Florence-Firestone and South Los Angeles. The 40th district reflects on the diversity of America’s people; includes a mixture of newly-arrived immigrant families which has established a strong Hispanic community.

Proposition 140 created term limits for assembly members and state senators. Assembly members are only able to serve three two-year terms or 6 years while state senators are able to serve two four- year terms or 8 years (Van Vechen, 32). Another effect of Proposition 140 was that it limited the allocated budget to legislative staff (Lustig, 62). Proposition 140 is one of the tools that helped undo the reform done by Jessie Unruh in the 1960’s. This is problematic for it hinders the legislature to do their job efficiently by having less staff. Other propositions attempt to change the representation of Californians, which ultimately changes the legislators we see in the legislature. Proposition 118, required redistricting to be approved by two thirds of both chambers. The passage of this proposition would have been catastrophic to redistricting, for it simulates the same problem that the legislature deals with when it comes to passing new revenues. In different propositions, we see that the major effects are the only ones highlighted when in fact, the smaller details of the proposition also have drastic

Texas is rapidly becoming a multicultural state with no one race or ethnicity being the majority. In fact, in 2010 the population was only 43.5% White, 11.5% Black, 37.6 Hispanic, and 5.6 Asian. It is now considered a majority minority state. In the nation, there are three other states that could also be considered a majority minority state, including California, Hawaii, and New Mexico according to the reading by Murdock. In “The Browning of America: A Review of Diversity Explosion…”, Caldwell states that while the people used to think that cultural diversity meant division and weakness, there are benefits of immigration such as an increase in young labor work force. America as a whole is aging and will continue to welcome in immigrants to supplement the work force making the trend of increasing non White immigrants similar to the trend happening in Texas. Overall, there is a rising population in both Texas and the Nation, with Texas’ population increasing rapidly and Texas is becoming increasingly multi-racial while other states are both close and far

Women and minorities get elected in local elections much differently. Minorities receive more votes if they are running in a single member district, where the district is composed of a majority of the minority. Women tend to get elected when there are multiple seats up for grab across a larger set of districts (at large elections). My purpose in including the percentage of black legislators in a state legislator was to see if states have to pick and choose: more minority legislators or more women legislators, based on the way candidates get elected according to the state rules. I would expect to see that states with more black legislators have fewer women legislators and vice versa.