California Dems Sip Champagne, Violate State Mask Mandate While Celebrating Successful Gerrymander

[Happy New Year]

California's redistricting commission on Tuesday approved a new
congressional map that, according to political analysts, will
further entrench the Democratic Party's power in the heavily
Democratic state.

To celebrate the outcome, members of the commission sipped champagne
and violated the state's indoor mask mandate by huddling together at
a restaurant and posing for quirky selfies as the Omicron variant of
COVID-19 runs rampant throughout the population.

Shortly after voting to approve the Democrat-friendly map, a member
of the commission posted a series of maskless group photos taken at
the dinner party. The photos implicate all members of the commission
in the violation of California's mask mandate, which was reimposed
by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) on Dec. 15 and applies to all individuals
regardless of vaccination status. The mandate permits the removal of
masks while "actively eating or drinking" but allows no such
exception for the taking of selfies.

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"We landed the plane, and locked it in!" commission member Trena
Turner wrote in a Twitter post that accompanies the incriminating
photos.

Turner's colleague on the commission, Sara Sadhwani, posted a photo
of her taxpayer-funded mask on a table next to a glass of what
appears to be champagne. In a separate video, Sadhwani posted a
video of Commissioner Jane Andersen without a mask while talking
about California as "gold country."

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Though nominally an independent body, the California redistricting
commission produced results that were widely praised by Democrats,
including partisan litigator Marc Elias, who shared a Politico story
about how the new map "boosts Democrats" and praised the commission
for being "fair." Elias has frequently criticized, and occasionally
sued, Republican-controlled states for drawing congressional maps he
considers unfair because they fail to boost Democrats.

Election experts agreed that Democratic candidates were almost
certain to benefit from the new district lines at the expense of
Republicans. "This is the high end of what was a probable outcome
for Democrats," data analyst Paul Mitchell told Politico. He
predicted that of the 11 GOP incumbents who represent California in
Congress (out of 52 total seats), only 9 would be reelected in 2022.

"California's near-final draft map looks terrific for Dems," wrote
House elections expert Dave Wasserman, who assessed that 5 of the
state's 11 Republicans would be "more vulnerable" as a result of the
new map.

A Washington Free Beacon review of the state's new congressional map
shows that every Democratic incumbent now sits in a district where
Trump got less than 44 percent of the vote and that the map appears
specifically to target Republicans of color, such as Reps. Michelle
Steel, Young Kim, David Valadao, and Mike Garcia. Even "safe" GOP
seats, such as the one held by Rep. Ken Calvert, are more
competitive now thanks to a new claw-shaped district that
incorporates more Democratic voters.

California's redistricting is the latest example of an "independent"
commission approving a new congressional map that happens to hurt
Republicans. Similar commissions have produced comparable results in
Michigan, Maryland, and New Jersey, as Democrats attempt to gain
whatever advantage they can ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. The
way things are going, they're going to need all the help they can
get.


https://freebeacon.com/democrats/california-gerrymandering/