Cherry Cayabyab, speaking for the United for Fair Representation coalition, said members were pleased the commissioners “listened” to testimony her group helped organize around the state.
The commission vote moves the Evergreen State in the right direction to give minorities more concentrated clout in a few districts, but Cayabyab had hoped to see more. She said the 29th district that takes in south Tacoma and east Lakewood fell just short of a minority majority. The coalition put out a statement here.
The redistricting maps are here.
“The final maps respond to the reality that people of color now represent 1 out of 4 Washington residents and that the increase in these communities helped land Washington an additional congressional district,” the OneAmerica advocacy group that was part of the coalition added in a news release.
Democratic redistricting commissioner Tim Ceis said it now is up to candidates and parties to get out, organize campaigns and see who can win with the new boundaries.
It remains to be seen how votes play out in the 2012 election, but there is no question history is in the making. And it is possible the impacts will take a few years to emerge.
This story includes comments from a Grandview City Council member’s view that the Latino majority in the newly designed 15th Legislative District in east Yakima County might not change the GOP dominated political landscape until Hispanic people get more involved in voting.
And this story outlined some of the impacts of a majority-minority population in the 9th Congressional District, where Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Smith of Tacoma is in his eighth term. The new boundaries pull the 9th out of Lacey, Thurston County and Joint Base Lewis McChord areas, pushing it into southeast Seattle and as far northeast as Bellevue.
Stay tuned.
