California Democrats never miss a chance to lecture the rest of the country about “protecting democracy.” But when it comes to their own backyard, they can’t even answer the most basic question:
Who drew the newly proposed California congressional maps?
That’s exactly what Sacramento reporter Ashley Zavala asked Assembly Elections Chair Gail Pellerin and Senate Elections Chair Sabrina Cervantes yesterday. What followed wasn’t transparency. It was a master class in political dodge, deflection, and double-speak.
“Meet the Chef”?
Pellerin was pressed directly: Did lawmakers have a hand in drawing the maps? She wouldn’t answer. Instead, she rambled about “collaboration,” promised to “get back with the specifics,” and then dropped this smug nugget:
“When I go to a restaurant, I don’t need to meet the chef, I just enjoy the food.”
Translation: Stop asking questions and eat what Sacramento serves you. Voters’ curiosity? Irrelevant. Accountability? Optional.
Cervantes wasn’t any better. She admitted only that the Senate Rules Committee posted the maps online under AB 604 — the law that hands map-making back to the Legislature and gives politicians control over their own districts.
But when pressed on who actually drew the lines, she retreated into vague talking points about “criteria” and “stakeholder input.” When Zavala didn’t let up, Cervantes doubled down:
“This is the most transparent process in the nation.”
Transparent? They wouldn’t even name the cartographer.
Behind the Curtain: Politicians Drew the Lines
Thankfully, we already know a great deal of the truth. Multiple outlets have reported that California’s Democrat congressional delegation, assisted by consultant Paul Mitchell (who's married to Planned Parenthood of California leader Jodi Hicks), were the ones who actually drew and submitted these maps. But in an Assembly Elections Committee hearing Tuesday, a witness claimed that the Assembly drew the maps, then that "the legislature" drew the maps, when committee member Asm. Alexandra Macedo, a Republican, pressed her. Macedo followed up, saying that she's a member of the committee and of the Assembly but had no role in map drawing, and the Democrat chair laughed and said, "You're not leadership." So the origin is clear as mud.
The maps were published on Friday, then conveniently “tweaked” by Monday to meet deadlines. Politicians with skin in the game wrote the rules and now demand credit for “openness.”
Who Benefits? Spoiler Alert: Democrats
It’s not hard to spot the winners.
As we reported Tuesday, California Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, who's term-limited, is getting a newly drawn 1st Congressional District tailored to boost Democratic voters in his region of Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma counties, just as rumors swirl of his congressional ambitions.
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At the same time, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas retains a safe, blue-leaning coastal district, protecting his political turf and quietly supporting a future run.
Democrat incumbents who’ve faced tighter races in recent years suddenly see new district lines that stack the deck in their favor. Consultants who make a living off partisan redistricting get paid. Incumbents get protection. And voters get played.
It’s a political protection racket dressed up in legalese and talking points.
Voters Already Said “No” to This Game
Californians already rejected this nonsense. Fifteen years ago, voters approved the Citizens Redistricting Commission to stop exactly this kind of insider rigging. The whole point was to take map-making out of politicians’ hands.
Back then, the law moving map-drawing to the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission was championed as landmark reform: fraud-proof, citizen-powered, and a direct counter to entrenched gerrymanders in partisan states.
Now, under the convenient banner of an “emergency,” Democrats are dismantling the very safeguards voters put in place. And they’re banking on the public not noticing while they redraw the map to serve themselves.
The National Double Standard
The hypocrisy is glaring. Democrats have filed multiple lawsuits challenging Republican-drawn maps in states like Kansas, using state courts to fight alleged partisan gerrymanders. Meanwhile, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee has actively promoted ballot measures and independent commissions nationwide to curb political maps driven by partisan self-interest.
Yet in California, where they control every lever of power, they toss independence aside like last week’s news. Suddenly, it’s perfectly acceptable for politicians to draw the very maps that determine their own election. The moment they have a chance to expand their power, all talk of fairness and reform evaporates.
If California Democrats get away with this, they will have zero credibility the next time they demand “fair maps” anywhere else.
The message to voters nationwide is clear: rules matter only when they serve Democrats.
The Bottom Line
AB 604 itself says the Elections Committee prepared the maps. But, both Pellerin and Cervantes refused to admit it in media interviews, though Pellerin made that claim in the committee hearing.
If this is “the most transparent process in the nation,” California Democrats have redefined transparency to mean the exact opposite.
This is raw political power and the arrogance of a one-party state that thinks voters should sit down, shut up, and let them rig the game.
California voters were promised independence, fairness, and accountability. What they’re getting instead is a rigged process, a wall of deflection, and maps designed to lock in one-party control forever.
If that’s transparency, then the word itself has been hijacked. And California Democrats are the thieves.