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Asian Assembly District Possible in the City

Shown here are the current areas occupied by the two California Assembly districts which overlap San Francisco. The reapportionment of the two districts — based on the 2000 Census — may change their ethnic composition significantly.

With the 2000 Census verifying that San Francisco’s 12th State Assembly District is the most Asian American in California, the state legislature is contemplating what communities to add, which could make the district more Asian or dilute it.

According to a Chinese American Voters Education Committee (CAVEC) analysis, the 12th district reaches into the western half and three-quarters of the southern parts of San Francisco – including heavily Asian American neighborhoods such as the Richmond, Sunset, Excelsior and Visitacion Valley. The current district crosses the San Mateo County line to incorporate the northern sliver of Daly City, and has a population of 406,243, which is 43.5 percent Asian American. Non-Latino whites went from 49.8 percent of the district to 36.3 percent in 10 years.

A more Asian American 12th district may be in the offing.

San Francisco’s 13th District Assemblywoman Carole Migden, who is running for State Board of Equalization next year, speculated that the legislature will enlarge her 13th District population.

“The way the lines are going to roll up… my Assembly District seat will have more of San Francisco,” said Carole Migden.

The 13th District, which has 399,116 people, covers primarily the northeast and eastern sectors with Bayview/Hunters Point in the southeast. The district’s 22.6 percent Asian Pacific Islanders come from Chinese, Filipino and Japanese population bases in Chinatown, Japantown, SOMA and parts of Visitacion Valley.

Meanwhile, Migden surmises Shelley’s 12th District may continue south into San Mateo County and incorporate at least Daly City, which is over 51 percent Asian American.

“The second one occupied by Assembly member Shelley will [drift] a little more… into Daly City. Things will change,” Migden said at an April 28 forum sponsored by the African American Democratic Club.

When asked for specifics, Midgen declined to comment. Legislature attorneys prohibited her from divulging specific redistricting plans.

Majority Leader Kevin Shelley, who will be involved in the reapportionment process, would not comment on a possible Asian American district for legal reasons. He, along with Migden and the state legislature, are reallocating California’s 33-million population into 80 assembly districts. Because California’s overall population has grown at a higher rate than San Francisco’s, the city’s two districts have to add population from beyond its limits — thus creating the possibility for the most Asian American district in the state.

“Ideally, you want to keep the Asian community together in one district, rather than split them,” CAVEC’s David Lee said April 18. “You don’t want… the Sunset and Richmond in one district, and the growing Excelsior and Visitacion Valley in another.”

“What we do now in this next six months will decide the political landscape for the next 10 years. It will be very difficult to change after this process. The train has already left the station. We need to really catch up,” he said.

But other scenarios are likely to dilute the “Asian-ness” of the district.

An eastward move of the 12th District could pick up Noe Valley and Marina/Pacific Heights, which currently constitute the mostly white neighborhoods in Carole Migden’s 13th District. Moreover, adding parts of Marin County onto San Francisco would likely dilute Asian American representation. Marin’s 247,289 residents are 79 percent white.

“If you go north into Marin, you touch Assembly District 6, which includes… San Rafael, Novato, Petaluma, Rohnert Park,” Lee said. “That district is 89.2 percent white.”

Groups such as Lee’s Chinese American Voters Education Committee will provide resources to help draw the new political maps. Bay Area groups such as the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco to the Asian Pacific American Legal Council of Southern California is expected to monitor the reapportionment process. The legislature, itself, is expected to hold hearings statewide, including one in San Jose next July.

Any district lines have to be passed by the California legislature and the governor by September 2001. There are also possible court challenges by Republicans, unhappy with the districts drawn by a Democratic majority legislature. Voting rights groups concerned about possible gerrymandering or dilution of political minorities may also go to court.

The outcome of such lines could also impact the outcome of the March 2002 Assembly race, especially with Supervisor Leland Yee, former Supervisor Mabel Teng, and BART Director and AsianWeek President James Fang expressing interest in the seat.