Cerritos-Artesia Voting Districts Are Changing: What's That Mean for You?

After two years of work, the 14-member California Redistricting Commission released draft plans for new congressional and state districts for the entire state on Friday.

The plans show new boundaries for California's 53 congressional districts, 40 state senate districts and 80 state assembly districts, as well as districts for the state Board of Equalization, which handles taxation issues.

The boundaries are in the draft state now and there will be a public input process. The final districts will be released in August.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ME:

It means you could find yourself part of a new congressional or state district. And it means you could find yourself suddenly part of the majority (or minority) politically.

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES:

For Cerritos-Artesia residents, it means a different member of Congress for each city. Under the redistricting proposals, Cerritos will remain in U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez's (D-Lakewood) 39th district but Artesia will join nearby Norwalk in Rep. Grace Napolitano's (D-Norwalk) 38th district.

In the State Senate, Cerritos and Artesia will be out of State Senator Alan Lowenthal's (D-Long Beach) 27th district and into a mostly Orange County district currently represented by State Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana).

Assemblyman Tony Mendoza's (D-Artesia) 56th district will include Cerritos and Artesia as well as Orange County cities like Cypress, Garden Grove and La Palma. However, Assemblyman Mendoza cannot run again in 2012 because of term limits.

You can read more about the redistricting process, the commission, and the criteria used for the new districts in our .  Maps of the new and old districts for Cerritos and Artesia are attached at right, and more information on the new districts is listed in the charts attached to this post.  More information about the old Board of Equalization districts can be found here.

What do you think of your proposed new district? You can vote in our Facebook poll on whether you prefer the old district or the new one.

U.S. Congressional District

Properties

Current District

Proposed District

Representative

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood)

The proposed district would take in most of the city of Long Beach and add La Palma and Los Alamitos while moving Artesia into the 38th district.

Towns

Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens Lakewood, La Mirada, Long Beach (part), Paramount, Lynwood, South Gate and Whittier.

Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens Lakewood, La Palma, Long Beach, Los Alamitos and Signal Hill.

State Senate District

Properties

Current District

Proposed District

Representative

Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach)

Cerritos-Artesia will be part of an Orange County-centered district which includes nearby cities like Cypress and La Palma.

Towns

Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Florence-Graham, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach (part), Lynwood, Paramount, Signal Hill and Willowbrook.

Anaheim (part), Artesia, Cerritos, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, La Palma, Orange, Stanton and Westminster.

State Assembly District

Properties

Current District

Proposed District

Representative

Assemblyman Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia)

Like the State Senate district, the Assembly district will include Orange County cities like Cypress and La Palma.

Towns

Artesia, Buena Park, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood (part), Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs and Whittier (part).

Artesia, Cerritos, Anaheim (part), Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove (part), La Palma, Stanton and Westminster.