New congressional boundaries unveiled

New congressional boundaries unveiled

(Map courtesy of Washington State Redistricting Commission)

With the deadline to complete its work just days away, the Washington State Redistricting Commission appears set on a new congressional map (see above) that puts Olympia and most of Thurston County in the state’s new 10th Congressional District.

Under the draft plan unveiled Wednesday morning by commissioners Slade Gorton and Tim Ceis:
• the 9th Congressional District would be a minority-dominated district stretching from northeast Tacoma to Renton and south Seattle.
• the 8th CD would include much of rural King and Pierce counties and hop across the Cascades to include all of Chelan and Kittitas counties, which are currently in the 4th CD.
• the 3rd District would lose all of Thurston County except for its southern part, while gaining Klickitat County, now in the 4th.

With the clock ticking, the commission still hasn’t agreed on an Eastern Washington legislative district map.

The four commissioners have until Jan. 1 to hammer out a final plan, with at least three of them having to agree. If they don’t, the state Supreme Court will be tasked with coming up with new boundaries for the state’s 10 congressional and 49 legislative districts.

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