Redistricting Commission’s ‘Final’ Map Could Bring Big Changes

A pair of maps released by the Washington State Redistricting Commission earlier this week could redraw much of North Central Washington's political boundaries.

Despite failing to meet its legally required deadline of 11:59 pm on November 15th, the commission still released a pair of maps a day later. It says the maps were agreed upon by all its members, although the final call on Washington's next legislative and congressional maps will now be made by the state supreme court.

Washington State must draw new legislative and congressional district maps every 10 years to reflect updated census data.

Here's a look at the commissions 'final' maps. A link to both maps' interactive dashboard can be found here.

Congressional Map

The newly proposed 'final' congressional map is largely a product of the fact that the west side of the state grew in population at a greater rate in the last 10 years than the east side. Because of this, Washington's 5th District has to expand west. In the commission's agreed upon map, the 5th District would swallow up the rest of Walla Walla County, as well as most of Adams and Franklin counties.

That adjustment forces the 4th District west as well. To offset its concessions to the 5th District, the 4th District would add Klickitat County and most of East Wenatchee.

Much of East Wenatchee currently sits in the 8th District. While the proposed map gives the vast majority of East Wenatchee back to Douglas County and the 4th District, a curiously small portion of neighborhood north of East Wenatchee would remain in the 8th. The portion roughly consists of the land between 31st Street Northwest to the south, US 2 to the north, State Route 28 to the east and the Columbia River to the west. While this small piece of Douglas County contains several blocks of residences, it's value may lie in what's to come. The area contains a stretch of land that is largely ready for development and could result in hundreds of more houses.

As for the 8th District, it would remain the state's only highly competitive congressional district in the proposed map, per FiveThirtyEight. On top of most of East Wenatchee, the 8th District would also effectively lose the Auburn area.

To offset the 8th's loses, the district would expand into the more rural, northeastern portion of King County while also gaining all but the urban, western part of Snohomish County, including Sultan, Granite Falls and the outskirts of Monroe and Arlington.

Legislative Map

The redistricting commission's proposed legislative map would see arguably greater changes to North Central Washington, as it has the 12th District being significantly altered along with splitting up Chelan and Douglas counties. With the exception of the more populous central third of East Wenatchee, the district would lose all its previous representation in Douglas, Grant and Okanogan counties.

To make up for those loses, the 12th District would stretch deep into King and Snohomish counties as far as to include North Bend, Fall City and the US 2/Stevens Pass corridor through Monroe.

According to the Washington State Republican Party, current 12th District Representative Brad Hawkins' residence in East Wenatchee is still barely within the proposed 12th District.

The 7th District would expand into North Central Washington at the expense of some of its representation north of Spokane. Under the 'final' map it would add all of Okanogan and Douglas counties (except for central East Wenatchee) as well as a portion of Northern Grant County that includes Soap Lake.

Under the proposed map, the 13th District would consist of most of Grant County (including the cities of Quincy, Ephrata, Moses Lake and Royal City), all of Kittitas County and a northern part of Yakima County. The Yakima County portion stretches to include some communities outside of Yakima like Moxee, Terrace Heights, Tieton and Naches.

It's important to keep in mind that the Washington State Supreme Court does not need to follow any of the suggestions or materials provided by the redistricting commission. The state Supreme Court has until 11:59 April 30th, 2022 to create both district maps.