Orange County residents face redistricting, the decennial redrawing of federal and state Congressional Districts to reflect California’s population, following the 2020 Census and as the 2022 midterm elections near. California lost a federal Congressional district, lowering the number of representatives California elects from 53 to 52. Orange County is now the 44th Congressional District and was previously the 45th.

“Redistricting has a direct impact on representation in Congress, which is ultimately how you have a voice in the government and what happens in our country,” passion civics teacher Samantha Ezratty said. “We learned about redistricting in our last unit, when we talked about elections and campaigns and what happens with that based on the census. I think it was really interesting this year because we had really updated data.”

Portola High families may vote for representatives in different districts based on where they live. 

“For those families that can vote, it probably will affect their viewpoints and the amount of people that support them,” senior Ryan Lee said.

State Assembly lines are proposed to shift the majority of Irvine into one district. Currently, Irvine is split mostly into the 68th and 74th Assembly Districts.

Congressional lines are not expected to change substantially; however, due to the removal of a Congressional District in California, the districts that contain Irvine will likely separate into two more uniform districts, rather than being primarily in the 45th District. The 45th District is currently the fastest growing district in the state, according to Spectrum News.

The California Citizens Redistricting Committee will redraw lines for the 44th Congressional District (Katie Porter-D) and the 68th State Assembly District (Steven Choi-R) and 37th State Senate (Dave Min-D).

The CCRC proposed its final redistricting map draft on Nov. 10. The draft will be open for public comment from Nov. 15-29, then edited for enactment by Dec. 27.

Since 2011, the most recent redistricting year, various districts have shifted party loyalties; the districts drawn in 2011 can be found on ca.gov. Orange County is included in the four new districts now marked “highly competitive,” meaning that the districts lean towards neither the Democratic nor Republican parties, according to a political analysis map by FiveThirtyEight.

The most drastic changes to the Irvine area are to the State Senate lines, according to the approved draft by the CCRC. With this proposed change, the majority of north and central Irvine would be split into one district and south Irvine into another.

As state legislature campaigns close in, students may benefit from staying updated.

“Most of the governing that matters to students happens at the state level, because education is a state power, and education is the most important issue for all students,” social studies department chair and teacher Jon Resendez said. “So it’s actually more important to a student to know who their state representatives are than their federal, and it’s more important for them to stay engaged in those politics.”