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Republican Rep. Gary Alexander of Thurston County is among the displaced statehouse incumbents, moving from the 20th district today to the 2nd, which had been centered around Yelm. Rep. Jim McCune, R-Graham, also is displaced from the 2nd to the 28th, where Democratic Reps. Tami Green and Troy Kelley hold seats.
In fact, the 28th would take in Fircrest, University Place, Steilacoom and Lakewood – then move down to the Nisqually River all the way down to Roy in a bid to soak up a lot of the excess population in the fast-growing 2nd.
Today's maps are bipartisan and still need to be reconciled with each other, and each still needs further tinkering. Democrat Tim Ceis said the map that he and Republican Slade Gorton hashed out for the northern areas is about 95 percent settled.
The full map for areas south of the King-Pierce county line is here. An inset showing more details for Pierce and Thurston counties is here.
The full map for areas north of the King-Pierce county line is here and an inset for Seattle districts is here.
For details on the Washington State Redistricting Commission, which was created by voters in 1983 to take the job out of the hands of the Legislature, go here.
The commission must send completed plans for the 49 legislative districts and 10 congressional districts to the Legislature for technical changes by Jan. 1. The commission has five members, including two Republicans and two Democrats that have voting rights. Three of the four must agree on final plans.
UPDATED: The commission just agreed to meet on an expedited schedule next week – including Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday at 1 p.m., Thursday at 1 p.m., and Friday at 10:30 a.m.
Commissioners said in their meeting today they want to complete the plans as soon as Wednesday. That would allow time for county auditors and the public to review and comment on the emerging plans over the Christmas holiday.
Democrat Ceis and Republican Gorton started work earlier this week on the congressional plan, which includes the state’s new 10th district that could be centered in the Olympia area.
UPDATE on original 10:35 a.m. Dec. 16 post corrects the time for the Tuesday, Dec. 20, meeting.
