California attorney general wants LA City Council to redraw council districts, report says
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta wants Los Angeles to start the redistricting process for the city's 15 council districts.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bonta is pushing political leaders to sign a legal agreement, prepared by his office, that would require the city to finalize new city council district maps for the 2026 primary election.
"L.A. is one of the most incredibly difficult places to redistrict in the nation because of just how diverse it is," said Political Science Professor Sara Sadhwani of Pomona College and also served on the Citizens Redistricting Commission.
Bonta's legal team has voiced concerns that the map approved by the council in 2021 "does not currently provide sufficient representation for Latinos in parts of the city," the Times report read.
Because any legal action against the City Council would be considered "closed session," councilmembers are blocked by law from discussing it publicly.
According to the LA Times article, Bonta's agreement alleges the current district borders leave an insufficient number of Hispanics in Councilman Kevin de León's district, something de León doesn't contest.
"It's painfully clear when you sit around the horseshoe in city hall the underrepresentation of this case the Latinos who make up slightly more than half of the population in the city of Los Angeles," De León told Eyewitness News.
Bonta has been investigating the L.A. City Council since 2022 when an audio recording leaked of a meeting between several councilmembers that involved racist and disparaging remarks during a discussion about redistricting maps.
"My office will conduct an investigation into the City of L.A.'s redistricting process," Bonta said at the time. "We're going to gather the facts. We're going to work to determine the truth."
"It's clear an investigation is sorely needed to help restore confidence in the redistricting process for the people of L.A.," he added.
The attorney general's legal team reportedly also discussed the possibility of creating a third "Latino" district in the San Fernando Valley.
Redistricting normally occurs every 10 years. Until now, the city council has had final say over the maps.
Sadhwani says if the attorney general strongarms the council into redistricting, it could substantially change the composition of the council. She adds that doing so, however, may be a solution searching for a problem.
"This is a really unique situation where the state itself through the Attorney General is coming in and telling the city that you have a problem when there aren't any communities on the ground that are making such a claim," she said.
In the meantime, voters in November will have a chance to approve the creation of an Independent Redistricting Commission which would kick in in 2031.
