Redistricting shakeup? GOP targets Eastern WA map favoring Latino voters
A group of Republican intervenors in the federal case that redrew the state’s legislative district boundaries in 2024 are now asking a federal court to quickly throw the map out for the 2026 primary and general elections.
They also want the court to reopen campaign filing, even though the deadline for the Aug. 4 primary was 5 p.m. Friday.
The request, filed Monday, comes just days after a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais weakened Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which had allowed voters to challenge racially discriminatory maps that break apart communities of similar interest. It also struck down the ability to use race as a districting criterion.
This week’s request appears to be the first ripple effect to touch the Evergreen State. Shortly after the Supreme Court decision, Washington Republicans said they planned to weigh their legal options. Several other states, including Louisiana and Florida, have responded with efforts to further redraw their maps.
In 2023, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington determined the state’s 2020 Redistricting Commission had violated Section 2 by “cracking” apart Latino communities in the Yakima Valley.
Palmer v. Hobbs focused on the 15th Legislative District. The court ultimately ordered the map invalid and to adopt one that substantially redrew the valley.
The result impacted the boundaries of at least 13 districts, and turned the neighboring 14th Legislative District into one that was majority Hispanic and leaned Democratic. — the new shape described in court records as an “octopus slithering along the ocean floor.”
That district’s voting age population is about 65% Hispanic and 55% Democrat voting.
Reactions fell along partisan lines, with Republicans denouncing it as a partisan gerrymander and Democrats celebrating it as better representation for Latino and Hispanic populations who have been fighting for more farmworker protections and better rural health care.
Intervenors say there’s ‘sufficient time’ to go back to old WA maps
Intervenors Jose Trevino, who is the former Granger mayor, and state Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, are now requesting the court to restore the commission’s prior maps that the court invalidated, so that they could be used for elections this year.
The current map ordered by the court is “no longer equitable because it now lacks a legal basis and is itself unlawful,” they say, and the judgment should be undone.
“This is a continuing harm that is inequitable now that the Supreme Court has confirmed the legal foundation for this court’s redistricting orders was erroneous from the outset,” court records read.
“Intervenors and the people of Washington should not have to go through yet another election with a legislative district map that does not comply with the proper reading of Section 2, and there is sufficient time to revert to the prior map for the 2026 primary and general elections with appropriate orders from this court,” intervenors continue.
But candidates running for public office in Washington this year have already filed their paperwork.
The group has requested expedited consideration, and says the district court should enter an order extending the filing period. Responses to these requests will be filed next week.
“This would still leave plenty of time before the primary election on Aug. 4 for candidates for legislative office to identify their districts and file necessary paperwork to run, and for county election administrators to restore the previous maps to their systems,” court documents read.
Attorneys for the plaintiff, Susan Soto Palmer, in this case have filed opposition to an expedited review, saying that an extension and swapping of maps would “represent significant federal intrusion” and “cause substantial confusion and disruption” to candidates.
“Rushing to change the map when candidates are already filing and actively campaigning is exactly the sort of last-minute alteration of election rules that federal district courts have consistently been instructed to avoid,” records read.
The district court, they argue, does not have jurisdiction due to the appeals process. One appeal is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to decide on whether to hear the case.
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision in the Palmer case, with one judge saying the remedial map “did not discriminate on the basis of race in violation of the Equal Protection Clause” of the 14th Amendment.
Fallout from the 2020 redistricting case has been a major headache for state Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, who was drawn out of her seat by the federal court’s decision.
Despite that, the Tri-City lawmaker has served as the 15th Legislative District’s state senator since 2022. Her term is up in January 2027.
She moved across town this year to run for the state Senate seat in the 8th Legislative District, which is being vacated by Matt Boehnke, who is running for Congress.
With President Trump’s favorability at an all-time low going into the 2026 midterm season, Washington Democrats hope to edge out Republicans in two state House seats up for election in the 14th Legislative District.
Republican lawmakers from the 14th — Sen. Curtis King of Yakima, Rep. Gloria Mendoza of Grandview, and Rep. Deb Manjarrez of Wapato — rode into office in 2024 in a red wave that saw Trump’s popularity with Latino voters swell that cycle.
