Proposition 119 Reapportionment Commission

Republicans on Wednesday enjoyed a long-sought election win in a San Diego Assembly district, but Democrats marched off with the bigger victory of deciding how political boundaries will be shaped into the next century. No incumbent from either party in the Legislature lost in Tuesday's primary. Additionally, the victors in November's legislative races face the likely prospect of a pay raise in December.

As he did during 1988's "war of the insurance initiatives," consumer advocate Ralph Nader has emerged this week as a key figure in this spring's political campaigns in California, a state 3,000 miles away from his office in Washington, D.C. But this year Nader is trying to cut a considerably wider swath, weighing in on several fronts, including the Democratic primary races for governor and insurance commissioner.

Torn between dislike of higher taxes and impatience with traffic congestion, California voters were narrowly favoring a complex package of proposals that would ease government spending restrictions and trigger a 9-cent-per-gallon hike in the gasoline tax. With solutions to a state budget crisis riding on the outcome, the fate of Proposition 111 remained in doubt. Gov.

A Democratic plan to defeat two hotly contested initiatives on the June 5 California ballot could be hampered by an informal IRS opinion on a longstanding federal tax regulation. The ballot measures--Propositions 118 and 119--would take from the Legislature much of its power to redraw political district lines after the 1990 census is completed.

The League of Women Voters on Friday accused Democratic leaders who oppose Proposition 119 of deliberately distorting the initiative's content in an attempt to fool voters into believing that the ballot measure would harm the coast and the environment. And to blunt the effect of their opponents' ads, backers of Proposition 119 have begun to air two commercials featuring Charlton Heston blasting fellow Hollywood actor Jack Lemmon for participating in a "fraud" with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

The ballot measures: Propositions 118 and 119. Whose ads? Supporters of Propositions 118 and 119 and one group opposing both measures. Propositions 118 and 119 both seek to change the way the state draws new political district lines after the U.S. census, an act that can determine the balance of power in the Legislature and the state's delegation to Congress.

Republicans on Wednesday enjoyed a long-sought election win in a San Diego Assembly district, but Democrats marched off with the bigger victory of deciding how political boundaries will be shaped into the next century. No incumbent from either party in the Legislature lost in Tuesday's primary. Additionally, the victors in November's legislative races face the likely prospect of a pay raise in December.

Democratic opponents of Propositions 118 and 119 took to the airwaves Wednesday with a television commercial that blasts the two redistricting initiatives as frauds backed by politicians and big corporations. But sponsors of the two measures contend that the real fraud is being committed by lawmakers opposed to the initiatives who jealously are trying to guard their own power. The new commercial is reminiscent of the Democratic media attack against a similar redistricting measure in 1984.

The Capitol's latest mystery isn't a "whodunit" but a "did-he-say-it." Assembly Speaker Willie Brown is hopping mad, and he's turning up the heat on those who allege he suggested that the League of Women Voters should "stay in the kitchen where it belongs." The angry San Francisco Democrat has accused a reporter of calling him a liar and publicly threatened to fire an aide who inadvertently helped fan the flames.

The battle over Propositions 118 and 119, two measures that could help shape the state's political power structure for the next decade, has become the costliest initiative fight on the ballot. Supporters of the two initiatives and a single group opposing both of them had already spent a combined total of more than $6.2 million as of Friday, and they figure to collect and spend much more by the time the polls close on Tuesday.

As he did during 1988's "war of the insurance initiatives," consumer advocate Ralph Nader has emerged this week as a key figure in this spring's political campaigns in California, a state 3,000 miles away from his office in Washington, D.C. But this year Nader is trying to cut a considerably wider swath, weighing in on several fronts, including the Democratic primary races for governor and insurance commissioner.

Imagine baseball with five bases instead of four. Football with a field only 50 yards long. Basketball with an extra hoop at center court. Changes no less fundamental could be in store for the rules that help determine who represents California voters in the Legislature and Congress. Two initiatives on the June 5 ballot--Propositions 118 and 119--would transform the way district lines are drawn for elections to the state Assembly and Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

The League of Women Voters on Friday accused Democratic leaders who oppose Proposition 119 of deliberately distorting the initiative's content in an attempt to fool voters into believing that the ballot measure would harm the coast and the environment. And to blunt the effect of their opponents' ads, backers of Proposition 119 have begun to air two commercials featuring Charlton Heston blasting fellow Hollywood actor Jack Lemmon for participating in a "fraud" with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

The ballot measures: Propositions 118 and 119. Whose ads? Supporters of Propositions 118 and 119 and one group opposing both measures. Propositions 118 and 119 both seek to change the way the state draws new political district lines after the U.S. census, an act that can determine the balance of power in the Legislature and the state's delegation to Congress.

Bill Press has raised more money in 1990 than any of his rivals for the new elected job of state insurance commissioner but has less cash in reserve than two other candidates who have obtained big loans for their campaigns, according to reports filed with the secretary of state. Press, a Democrat who was an aide to former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and was a political commentator on KABC-TV until January, raised $205,147 during the first 11 weeks of 1990.

The battle over Propositions 118 and 119, two measures that could help shape the state's political power structure for the next decade, has become the costliest initiative fight on the ballot. Supporters of the two initiatives and a single group opposing both of them had already spent a combined total of more than $6.2 million as of Friday, and they figure to collect and spend much more by the time the polls close on Tuesday.

The Capitol's latest mystery isn't a "whodunit" but a "did-he-say-it." Assembly Speaker Willie Brown is hopping mad, and he's turning up the heat on those who allege he suggested that the League of Women Voters should "stay in the kitchen where it belongs." The angry San Francisco Democrat has accused a reporter of calling him a liar and publicly threatened to fire an aide who inadvertently helped fan the flames.

Democratic opponents of Propositions 118 and 119 took to the airwaves Wednesday with a television commercial that blasts the two redistricting initiatives as frauds backed by politicians and big corporations. But sponsors of the two measures contend that the real fraud is being committed by lawmakers opposed to the initiatives who jealously are trying to guard their own power. The new commercial is reminiscent of the Democratic media attack against a similar redistricting measure in 1984.