ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2001, the day after the deadliest attack ever perpetrated on American soil, job security–not homeland security–was foremost on the minds of California lawmakers. State senators in Sacramento that day passed a redistricting bill purposely designed to protect both parties’ incumbents. The state Assembly followed suit the next day. Two weeks later, then-Gov. Gray Davis signed the measure into law. Because it was drafted as “urgency” legislation, the new redistricting plan was immune from a referendum challenge that could have put the matter before the state’s Supreme Court.

As it turned out, the legislature accomplished its mission. California was home to 153 congressional and legislative races last November; not a single one changed party hands. Compare that to the eight-year stretch from 1992 to 2000, when 10 of California’s congressional districts, 6 state Senate and 14 Assembly districts changed parties at least once, with 13 of the districts turning over twice in those 5 elections.