California Attorney General to Investigate Los Angeles Redistricting Process After Audio Leak

California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks during a news conference in San Francisco, Calif. on Nov. 15, 2021. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

State Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Oct. 12 that his office will investigate the City of Los Angeles’s redistricting process—in light of the recent leak of a racially charged conversation between three city councilors and the head of a labor union.

The investigation is one of the latest developments in the public’s reaction to the recording that was leaked Oct. 9.

In the conversation from October 2021, then Council President Nury Martinez made racially disparaging comments toward various ethnic groups, as well as Councilman Mike Bonin’s 2-year-old black adopted son.

The remarks were made during a discussion on the city’s once-a-decade redistricting with Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera.

The group talked about how to keep Latino councilors in office so that Latino districts would not lose financial resources after the maps were redrawn.

Herrera has since resigned as the federation’s president. Following that, a wave of officials and political candidates condemned the remarks and called for the three city councilors to resign from their posts. Martinez stepped down as council president the day after the leak and later resigned from her council seat Oct. 12.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Nury Martinez attends an event at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles on May 23, 2019. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST))

Bonta said the recorded conversation—which he said was “unacceptable,” “offensive,” and deeply hurtful"—makes a detailed examination of the city’s redistricting procedure necessary.

“The redistricting process ... is foundational for our Democracy and for the ability of our communities to make their voices heard. And it must be above reproach,” Bonta said in a downtown Los Angeles news conference.

“Given these unique circumstances, my office is going to investigate. We’re going to gather the facts. We’re going to work to determine the truth and take action as necessary to ensure the fair application of our laws,” he said.

Since the incident, multiple community groups have called for establishing an independent commission to replace the councilors’ role in the redistricting process to avoid conflicts of interest.