Gerrymander! Garcia comes to HB, Adios Calvert, Young Kim dodges a bullet?

By
Vern Nelson
– August 15, 2025Posted in: "The OC", 2026 elections, CA 40, CA 42, Fresh Juice, Gerrymander 2025, ken calvert, Robert Garcia, Young Kim


It’s coming into focus quickly, the Congressional maps we’ll have here next year IF:

  • Texas doesn’t stop “fucking around” which there’s no sign of;
  • All of you-all approve these maps this November which I think Californians WILL DO in a last ditch to save our nation from fascism;
  • These don’t change much; and
  • We actually MANAGE TO HAVE a ’26 midterm election.

This is like Christmas eve in August, looking at these proposed maps, and as far as Orange County goes, my favorite parts are:

The FABULOUS ROBERT GARCIA will be representing Huntington Beach, Newport & Costa Mesa, as his Long Beach-centered 42nd district has been pulled southeastward, like taffy, deep into the OC. (Making it kind of like the original Dana Rohrabacher district from back in the day.)

Yes, the sharp-tongued progressive superstar, who cruised to re-election with 68% last year in a district that was only 17% Republican, will now have to jet-ski to victory in a D40-R30 district.

Oh, they’ll LOVE Robert Garcia in Surf City. Or, at least, they may learn to.

CREEPY KEN CALVERT of Corona, who USED to represent South OC as well (which is why I wrote this story about him in 2010) has had the rug pulled out from under him. I mean where did his Fighting 41st go? It’s gone. Oh, it’s over in Downey now (and reaching out to La Habra & Brea) and is now 46D-27R.

It was high time for Ken to retire anyway, he’s been in Congress for 32 years and he’s always been useless – notably corrupt, creepy incidents in the past, and certainly not one of the nearly non-existent Republicans who ever stands up to Trump and MAGA. So adios, Ken Calvert!

Thing is, the rumor was Calvert and Young Kim were gonna be drawn into the same district, but that didn’t happen. In fact, it looks like the Gerrymander Gods took it easy on the Smooth Poisonous Young, whose district 40 will be changing from 38R-34D to 40R-31D. Oof. That’ll make it harder for any of these feisty Dem contenders to take her out.

How did this happen? Looks like they grabbed Rancho Santa Margarita out of Mike Levin’s district (making things a little easier for that worthy Dem), and also snatched up weird IE towns like Lake Elsinore and Murietta, embracing the big MAGA tweeker crowd. Good luck to the half-dozen Dems in the race, may the best of you prevail, defy this new map, and take out Young. (I see Coto is still in there, so Esther and Joe Kerr aren’t going anywhere.)

Wrapping things up, the Map Gods made things a little easier for the three young fellows who “barely won” last year – maybe they won’t have to vote for any future Laken Riley Acts:

  • DEREK TRAN’S CD-45 goes from 38D-32R to 39D-30R. And the Republicans still don’t have a candidate.
  • DAVE MIN’S CD-47 goes from 36D-34R to 36D-32R. And the Republicans still have no candidate.
  • MIKE LEVIN’S CD-49 (grabbing more out of San Diego county) goes from 36D-33R to 36D-32R. And the Republicans still have no candidate.
  • LOU CORREA’S CD-46… well, nobody was ever worried about that.

Well there you have it, how these new probable (gerrymandered) maps will affect our Congressional races next year in the OC. I’ve been slacking but gonna write about some state candidates soon.., and much more… you just wait and see… VERN OUT.

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About Vern Nelson

Greatest pianist/composer in Orange County, and official political troubadour of Anaheim and most other OC towns. Regularly makes solo performances, sometimes with his savage-jazz band The Vern Nelson Problem. Reach at vernpnelson@gmail.com, or 714-235-VERN.