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

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/