Prop. 77 furor fades; hopes for reform rekindled

After California voters overwhelmingly rejected Gov. Schwarzenegger’s
Proposition 77, one might expect little from victorious Democrats in the way
of redistricting reform.

But good-government groups like Common Cause and reformers like Long Beach
Democratic Sen. Alan Lowenthal, have reason to be hopeful in Sacramento’s
new post-special election reality.

“If there’s rapprochement between the governor and the leadership, then
there’s going to be a real chance that everybody is going to hold hands and
put this up as well,” Lowenthal said.

So far, the signals of a possible deal are faint: Majority Democrats are
crafting proposals, and Schwarzenegger’s staff says only that he will
consider those ideas very carefully.

But one ray of hope for reformers was Senate Leader Don Perata’s Nov. 9
pronouncement that he and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nu