Geographer Dick Morrill has written that Olympia is likely to be at the center of any new 10th district. But the P-I.com had this story that quotes former state GOP chair Chris Vance on the-10th-could-go-on-the-Eastside theory.
The Census confirmed Tuesday that Washington gets a 10th district, which an independent Washington State Redistricting Commission will carve out of the state's political map, which David Ammons of the Office of the Secretary of State released a link to.
I was out yesterday and this is my effort to catch up. According to Ammons:
So far, only Democrats have appointed people to the five-member Redistricting Commission that will meet next year and decide the boundaries for 10 congressional and 49 state legislative districts in Washington. Last time around they shrank Thurston County's share of the 3rd Congressional District to include only Olympia and to the south, while drawing the 9th down from its I-5 orientation to include Lacey.
Furthering that trend to accommodate the Vancouver area's growth would take Olympia completely out of the mix. It could mean the 10th, or it could cause the 9th to take in more if not all of the county -- but the Redistricting Commission is only just starting up.
House Democrats named Dean Foster of Olympia and Senate Democrats named Tim Ceis to represent their caucus on the commission. Foster is a former House chief clerk and member of the 2001 Redistricting Commission. Ceis is a former Seattle deputy major under Greg Nickels.
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown announced Ceis’ appointment with a news release last week that said in part:
We'll all have to stay tuned.
