David Sander - Another poster child for dedrawing California districts

State budget woes won't end until districts become competitive in November

Have you met David Sander?

If you are a registered Republican or Independent voter in California's 10th Assembly district chances are you have received one of his numerous mailers.

As one of the Republican candidates in the June primary, Sander's is seeking his party's nomination to run in the November election. Based on the high-profile Republican endorsements and the huge financial backing from groups like "Taxpayers for David Sander" (whoever that might be), if Sander's wins the primary he is a sure bet to win in November because the 10th district's boundary lines are drawn to ensure a Republican seat.

And politicians in districts like the 10th lie at the heart of California's perennial budget delays and unbalanced budgets - district lines drawn by politicians for the benefit of political party's, not the people of the state.

Sander's is but one example of this.

In his mailers, Sander's paints a picture of himself as a unyielding conservative fiercely against any tax increase. Being against tax increases are not inherently bad, unless you face a revenue shortfall.

Sander's is adamantly against any tax increase and we really believe him for this simple reason - the way the 10th is drawn, the voters in this district support this stance. More importantly, if he bucks the party line, he will be exiled.

Just ask former 10th district Republican Assembly person Anthony Pescetti who was termed-out after two terms by his own party for supporting a budget deal from then Gov. Gray Davis. This is the reality of what what happens when you break ranks, compromise and help pass a budget - your own party exiles you.

Likewise, in other districts the lines are drawn to ensure very liberal Democrat's are guaranteed victory. In these Gerrymandered districts voters are at the other end of the spectrum from Sander's - more inclined to support,sustain and even increase spending on programs even in the face of declining revenues.

Their solution is quite often to increase taxes to make up for revenue shortfalls. And this is the crux of California's on-going budget problems - overly partisan politics perpetuated by non-competitive political districts. Partisan conservatives and liberals refuse to give any ground for the good of the people.

With the California's super majority needed to pass a budget and the the overtly partisan political districts, budget gridlock is a guarantee.

The missing ingredient in the whole budget mess are districts that are drawn to ensure competition based on reason, not districts drawn for political benefit. Until the mechanism used to draw political districts are changed from guaranteeing victory for conservatives like Dave Sander's and liberals like Mark Leno, California's budget problems won't go away.