A panel of three retired judges created highly competitive districts, and Republicans were certain they would benefit. Some even speculated that the party would gain control of the Assembly, which had been in Democratic hands for more than 20 years.
But nothing happens in a vacuum. The nation and California were mired in recession in 1992, which helped Bill Clinton defeat President George H.W. Bush. In the state primaries, GOP moderates, including Wilson, and conservatives -- led by gun groups and religious fundamentalists -- waged internecine warfare, leaving the party's general-election candidates battered and lacking money.
Instead of losing their majority in the Assembly, Democrats increased it in the general election. They slipped a little in the state Senate but made surprising gains in the new 52-member congressional delegation, winning 29 seats.
Two years later, the political tide shifted nationally when Republicans exploited a congressional scandal and Clinton's bumbled healthcare reform to gain control of Congress. In California, Wilson trounced his Democratic challenger and the GOP briefly took control of the Assembly.
The current incumbent-protection plan was the fruit of GOP nervousness over a Democratic gerrymander that could erase as many as six Republican seats in the state's congressional delegation, which would have threatened the party's control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A bipartisan deal to maintain the status quo was cut, and last year, not one of the 153 legislative and congressional seats up for election changed parties.
Nonetheless, should Schwarzenegger pursue his redistricting plan and succeed, not only can Republican control of the House be threatened but increased GOP numbers in Sacramento -- no matter at whose political expense -- will not guarantee the moderate lawmakers the governor desires. There's no denying the current "do-it-yourself" Legislature is one of the most highly polarized in modern history. But reapportionment by vested politicians isn't totally to blame.
Schwarzenegger knows that redesigning reapportionment won't end Sacramento gridlock. He supported a proposition on last November's ballot that would have revived California's open primary system. Studies indicate that allowing all voters to select any party's nominees tended to produce more moderate candidates.
