Commentary Sometimes more important than elections themselves is the decennial redistricting mandated after each U.S. Census. It’s a large country and Americans move around a lot. Throw in immigration, and each new numbering means the political dynamics change. For California, the big news was losing a seat in Congress for the first time ever. The population grew just 6.1 percent from 2010 to 2020, the lowest ever recorded, to 39.5 million. By contrast, from 1980 to 1990, during which I came here in 1987, the population soared 25.7 percent. No wonder that decade the Golden State gained seven new House seats. Yet people at the time complained the Census undercounted the state, costing us one more House seat. And each House seat, of course, also counts as one vote in the Electoral College that chooses the president. That shows how these new tallies and map configurations always generate controversy. Under …