The Washington State Redistricting Commission formalized the state’s legislative district boundaries in a recent report to the state Legislature, confirming that Madison Park will remain within the 43rd Legislative District.
The only significant changes to the 43rd District occurred north of the Lake Washington ship canal, where there were minor modifications to the district’s boundaries on both the east and west sides.
In addition to Madison Park, the 43rd encompasses Downtown, Capitol Hill, Montlake and Eastlake on the south side, as well as the University District, Ravenna, Wallingford, Fremont and Green Lake on the north side.
The 43rd District’s legislators — Sen. Ed Murray and Reps. Jamie Pedersen and Frank Chopp — comprise an influential Democratic delegation, given that Murray is chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee and Chopp is the House speaker.
The Redistricting Commission approved the boundaries for the state’s districts, adding a 10th Congressional District. That remapping resulted in creation of a “majority-minority” congressional district near the borders of Madison Park.
The 9th Congressional District was pushed north into Seattle’s Central Area as part of the effort to give it a majority of minority voters (50.3 percent).
The newly drawn 9th District now extends all the way to the south side of East Madison Street — though, along with Madison Park, Madrona and Denny-Blaine remain in the 7th District.
The 7th District previously included all of Seattle, as well as Vashon Island, Renton and Kenmore. Now the district extends from Vashon and Normandy Park in the south to Edmonds in the north.
Meanwhile, the 9th District, which used to extend from Olympia to Renton, now begins in Federal Way and extends to Bellevue, taking in much of southwestern Seattle, as well.
Madison Valley is now cut in half by new congressional boundary — the northern portion remaining in the 7th District, while the southern portion joins the 9th District.
The 9th District is represented by Democrat Adam Smith, who is in his eighth term and is expected to be easily re-elected in spite of his district’s new boundaries and borderline “majority-minority” status.
The 7th District is represented by Democrat Jim McDermott, now in his 12th term.
The commission, as part of its report based on the most recent U.S. Census, also released demographic information on the various districts.
The 43rd Legislative District, is comprised of 75-percent whites and 25-percent people of color, while for the 7th Congressional District, the numbers are 73 and 27 percent, respectively.
The final report, with detailed maps and data can be found at www.redistricting.wa.gov.
BRYAN TAGAS writes the Madison Park blog (www.madisonparkblogger.com), from which this column was excerpted.
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