How much longer for LaMalfa?

Congressional run may mean early departure

State Sen. Doug LaMalfa

Sen. Doug LaMalfa, R-Butte, says he will seek the seat of Congressman Wally Herger, R-Chico, who announced his retirement Tuesday and endorsed LaMalfa as a successor.

LaMalfa, was elected to the Senate in 2010 and his term doesn’t expire until 2014.

Where does that leave Del Norte?

If LaMalfa is elected, the governor will call a special election to fill the vacant Senate seat until 2014 when, because of redistricting, Del Norte shifts to another district currently represented by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa.

If LaMalfa loses, he’s still Del Norte’s senator until 2014, when he becomes ineligible to represent the new district because he doesn’t live in it.

But  LaMalfa mistakenly thought November was the end of his Del Norte days either way.

When the Triplicate spoke with him about redistricting last week, before he announced his intentions to run for Congress, he said that Sen. Evans would take over this year until the next election cycle for even-numbered Senate districts in 2014.

“For those two years Sen. Evans will be basically assigned those new areas because that’s where the new map is. I have the ability to represent those districts until Nov. 30, until the term in the odd-numbered districts ends,” LaMalfa said.

 Sen. Evans’ office had a different idea of how things work.

“She won’t represent Del Norte until 2014 and then, must be elected by the voters of Del Norte,” an Evans spokesperson, Teala Schaff, wrote in an email.

“In 2014, Del Norte will become part of the newly drawn SD2 (pending any challenges and outcomes to the new boundaries), but those voters will still have to elect a representative,” Schaff wrote. “Both LaMalfa and Evans are up for re-election in 2014.  Evans should be on the ticket for SD2, but could always face a challenger. The winner of SD2 in 2014 will determine who the representative is, and therefore represent Del Norte.”

LaMalfa could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

And by the way, if he is elected to Congress, he won’t represent Del Norte.

Redistricting is a confusing business. This once-a-decade kerfuffle over who represents who and where is based on the U.S. Census results. This time around the map lines were drawn by a commission of citizens, rather than legislators.

Feathers are ruffling all the same. While the congressional districts drawn by the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission will stand, some 700,110 signatures petitioning for a ballot measure to overturn the new state Senate maps are currently being checked That includes 207 Del Norte signatures, according to County Clerk Alissia Northrup.

The Supreme Court is now being asked to decide which Senate districts should be used for 2012, since it’s possible that voters could throw out the commission’s maps in the very same election they are to be used to elect Senators in odd-numbered districts.

Since Del Norte is part of an even-numbered district under both the old and the new maps, Senate redistricting won’t affect our representation until the 2014 elections.

If a vacancy in the Senate occurs before then, such as LaMalfa’s seat, the 2001 maps will apply.

Reach Emily Jo Cureton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it