California's 47th congressional district


California's 47th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is centered in Long Beach, extends into the western Orange County cities of Garden Grove, Westminster, Stanton, Los Alamitos, and Cypress, and includes Catalina Island. The district is represented by.

Competitiveness

Although the district's Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+13 suggests a fairly safe Democratic district, it is actually split between heavily Democratic portions of eastern Los Angeles County, centered around Long Beach, and Republican-leaning portions of western Orange County. However, the Los Angeles County portion has more than double the population of the Orange County portion, pushing the district into the Democratic column.
After being reassigned to this district, the western Orange County cities explored a lawsuit to challenge being merged into a district which is dominated by a much larger city in a different county, however nothing came of it.

In statewide races

List of members representing the district

District created January 3, 1993.
MemberPartyDatesCong
ress		Electoral historyCounties

Christopher Cox		RepublicanJanuary 3, 1993 –
January 3, 2003		Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1992.
Re-elected in 1994.
Re-elected in 1996.
Re-elected in 1998.
Re-elected in 2000.
Redistricted to the.		1993–2003
South-Central Orange

Loretta Sanchez		DemocraticJanuary 3, 2003 –
January 3, 2013		Redistricted from the and re-elected in 2002.
Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Re-elected in 2008.
Re-elected in 2010.
Redistricted to the.		2003–2013
Central Orange

Alan Lowenthal		DemocraticJanuary 3, 2013 –
present		Elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Re-elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.		2013–Present
Orange and Los Angeles

Election results

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

Historical district boundaries

From 2003 through 2013, the district consisted of many of Orange County's central suburbs, including Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. Due to redistricting after the 2010 United States Census, the district has moved west to parts of Los Angeles County and now includes Catalina and San Clemente islands. The district also retains parts of Orange County such as Garden Grove.

In popular culture

California's 47th congressional district was the scene of a congressional election, and later a congressional special election, featured in several episodes of the political drama The West Wing. However, in that context, several Orange County place names were referenced that are not within the current boundaries of the district, such as the city of Newport Beach. Many of these places are currently located in the 46th and 48th districts.