Redistricting in Washington after the 2010 census

Note: Redistricting takes place every 10 years after completion of the United States Census. The information here pertains to the 2010 redistricting process. For information on more recent redistricting developments, see this article.

Redistricting in Washington

General information

Partisan control: Democrat

Process: Washington State Redistricting Commission

Deadline: January 1, 2012

Total seats

Congress: 10

State Senate: 49

State House: 98

This article details the timeline of redistricting events in Washington following the 2010 census. It also provides contextual information about the redistricting process and census information.

Washington grew 14.1% percent from 2000 to 2010 and gained a Congressional district.

Figure 1: This map shows Washington's Congressional Districts after the 2000 census.

Process

See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures

During the 2010 redistricting cycle, the Washington State Redistricting Commission was responsible for redistricting. The redistricting commission was composed of five members, chosen by the following:

• 1 Appointed by the Majority Leader of the House
• 1 Appointed by the Minority Leader of the House
• 1 Appointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate
• 1 Appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate

These four members selected a fifth non-voting member who acted as chair. If a fifth member could not be selected, then the Washington Supreme Court would have selected a member. In 2011, the voting members were sworn in on January 18 and had until the end of the month to select the final member.

The Washington State Constitution provided authority for the creation of and details the duties of a Redistricting Commission in Section 43 of Article II.

Leadership

Washington Democrats selected their commission members by the end of December 2010. They chose Tim Ceis, a one-time deputy mayor of Seattle, and Dean Foster, who had previously been a Chief Clerk of the Washington House of Representatives and a gubernatorial chief of staff.

Republicans made their selections in January 2011. They chose Slade Gorton, a former U.S. Senator, and Tom Huff, who once represented Gig Habor at the state level. Gorton was involved in the 1961 redistricting process.

On January 28, 2011, Lura Powell, of Richmond, was announced as the commission's final member and its chair. Once selected, Dr. Powell was immediately sworn in by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Redistricting

September 2011: Initial draft maps published

Following three months of public input, the Washington State Redistricting Commission unveiled their initial draft maps for congressional and legislative districts in Olympia on September 13, 2011. Each of the four voting members of the commission presented their ideas. This marked the opening of the public comment period on the draft maps, which went through October 11. Final maps were expected to be completed by early November.

Three of the four commission members endorsed the creation of a majority-minority congressional district—the first of its kind in the state—to be made of up parts of southeast Seattle and southern King County cities. Republicans proposed additional rural districts, while the Democratic map moved 15 current Republican state legislators out of their districts.

October 2011: Maps reduced from four to two

At a meeting on October 11, 2011, the panel announced it hold a special meeting on October 14 to narrow the proposals from four down to two. That same day ended the public comment period. The commission received 239 unique comments from 686 people during the month-long period.

The two maps selected were compromises between all four commissioners. Democratic commissioner Tom Huff said, “What we did today, I think, is a real positive step forward, reducing four maps into two.”

Analysis by The News Tribune found the Democratic map displaced one Democratic incumbent and at least 13 Republican incumbents. Similarly, the Republican map displaced one Republican incumbent and at least 13 Democratic incumbents.

December 2011: Agreement reached

Figure 2: This map shows the new congressional districts proposed by the commission.

The Redistricting Commission released a draft plan of new congressional districts on December 28, 2011. The new 10th District would be centered in Olympia, a reliably Democratic area. According to Crosscut, Democrats were also considered to have safe seats in the 6th, 7th and 9th Districts, while Republicans also had four safe seats - the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th. The 1st and 2nd were considered competitive.

The commission announced unanimous agreement on a plan for new legislative districts on January 1, 2012. This agreement came hours before redistricting would have gone to the Washington Supreme Court.

Following the vote, the commission sent their plans to the Washington State Legislature. Legislators were only allowed to make adjustments that impacted less than 2 percent of a district's population and those adjustments required a two-thirds majority. Tweaks were made and unanimously approved on January 27.

Legal issues

April 2011: Yakima City Council lawsuit

Filed by Tim Schoenrock, an immigration attorney hired by former Yakima Democratic Party chairman Tony Sandoval, the April 2011 suit charged that the city was on long term violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Acts, the text banning voting procedures designed to lead to discriminatory outcomes.

Sandoval argued that because Hispanics registered to vote and exercised that right in lower percentages than whites, the former group was being discriminated against by Yakima's city council election system. Under the at-large election system, Sandoval alleged, whites were wrongly able to parlay their greater political engagement into more representation on the council. The lawsuit claimed Yakima's 40% Hispanic population was underrepresented.

Both Sandoval and Schoenrock asked for the city to be divided into seven equal districts, which they said would allow concentrated populations a better chance of electing a member of their own community.

Schoenrock told reporters, "The white population votes at a larger percentage than Latinos thereby overruling every time the Latino group disagrees with the white vote."

February 2012: Vancouver citizen petition

John Milem, a retired attorney from Vancouver, filed a petition with the state Supreme Court on February 8, 2012, asking them to redraw the lines in order to meet legal requirements of compactness, equal representation, and competitiveness.

Milem argued the state redistricting commission did not draw the lines as required by state law. The plan, he said, limited competition and did not represent communities as best as it could. The new congressional map split 9 counties, two more than the previous map, while the legislative map split 17. According to Milem, it was only necessary to split three to four for counties on the congressional map and 11 for the legislative map.

While the case remained pending, the Washington Supreme Court authorized the use of the new districts for the 2012 elections on March 14. Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, writing for the court, said, "In view of the approaching deadlines for the 2012 elections and the need for adequate time to perfect the case and consider briefs and arguments of the parties on the merits of Mr. Milem's petition, the court unanimously agreed" to allow the new districts to be used.

Timeline

The following is a timeline of events and deadlines during the 2011 redistricting process.

• January 15, 2011: The leader of each of the four legislative caucuses names a single commission member.
• January 30, 2011: At least three of the four voting members must agree on a fifth non-voting member or the decision passes to the state Supreme Court.
• November 1, 2011: Commission members aim to have a draft map ready for public comment.
• January 1, 2012: The commission, with at least three of the four voting members in accord, must agree on and present a final map to the state legislature.
• January 30, 2012: If the commission misses its initial deadline and does not present a map by the end of January, the Washington Supreme Court takes over the process.
• February 10, 2012: The legislature must pass the map as it is or approve any boundary changes with a supermajority vote.
• March 1, 2012: If the Supreme Court has cause to take over the process, they must present a complete map by today.
• August 14, 2012: The first election, primaries for the 2012 general election, using the new boundaries takes place.

History

2001 redistricting

Deviation from Ideal Districts

2000 Population deviation
Office		Percentage
Congressional Districts		0.00%
State House Districts		0.30%
State Senate Districts		0.30%
Under federal law, districts may vary from an Ideal District by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable is preferred. Ideal Districts are computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census.

Figure 2: This map shows the deviation from perfectly proportioned districts in Washington as of 2010.

Ballot measures

The following measures have appeared on the Washington ballot pertaining to redistricting.

• Washington Redistricting Commission, SJR 103 (1983) a
• Washington Congressional Reapportionment and Redistricting, Referendum 16 (1966) a
• Washington Legislative Reapportionment and Redistricting Act, Initiative 199 (1956) a
• Washington State Legislative Redistricting, Initiative 57 (1930) a

See also

• State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
• State-by-state redistricting procedures

External links

• Washington State Redistricting Commission
• Washington State Redistricting Commission FAQ

• Washington Secretary of State Estimated Deviation from Current Population Targets for Existing Legislative Districts," accessed January 13, 2011
• "General Information on the Congressional and state Legislative Redistricting Process and Timeline.," October 1, 2010
• "An overview of Federal Congressional and Senatorial Representation: Territory and State of Washington, 1853 to the Present," September 29, 2010
• Detailed 2010 U.S. Census data for Washington