WA voting districts are changing. Tri-Cities and Walla Walla should unite | Editorial

Boundary lines are changing, and it’s time to include all of Walla Walla County in the same congressional district as the Tri-Cities and Yakima.

The Washington State Redistricting Commission is taking on the once-in-a-decade task of redrawing legislative and congressional boundaries, offering an opportunity to improve representation throughout the state.

Currently, the Tri-Cities and Yakima are in the geographically massive 4^th Congressional District, which runs from the Oregon border to Canada and is served by Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse.

Walla Walla County currently is split between the 5^th Congressional District and the 4^th.

The 5^th Congressional District also runs from the Oregon border to Canada and includes Spokane — the state’s second-largest city. It is represented by Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

With this next go-around of redistricting, the commission has the chance to make sure fewer communities are split between districts. Many people who have spoken on the issue believe this can be accomplished by changing the lines in Eastern Washington from vertical to horizontal — or perhaps even diagonal.

If commission members can figure out a way to do this, they should.

Many people in Walla Walla are pushing for new boundary lines that put their community in the 4th District. They say they have more in common with the Tri-Cities and Yakima than they do with the interests of Spokane.

And such a change not only would help make Walla Walla County whole, but it also would unite the Colville Confederated Tribe in the northern part of the state.

Currently, the reservation also is split between the 4^th and 5^th Congressional Districts, and this is a situation that should be remedied while we have the chance.

The Washington State Redistricting Commission has been gathering public comments on its website and it also has been holding public hearings. Earlier this month, the group focused on the 4^th Congressional District and Shir Regev of Richland made a really insightful point about why the southeastern section of the state should be its own congressional district.

Currently, the 4^th is so large that it makes it difficult for candidates to travel and talk with everyone who lives in the district. If the area was more compact, it would allow more people to consider running for the office, she said.

Regev has run at the state level and for Richland City Council, so she has an idea of what it takes to run a campaign.

We think she’s got a valid point. The 4th Congressional District is just too huge geographically. People from Okanogan County in the northern part of the 4^th District have complained that the district is dominated by the Tri-Cities and Yakima and they don’t feel connected.

For selfish reasons, the Tri-Citians certainly won’t want to lose their clout when new lines are drawn, but adding all of Walla Walla County into the 4^th District shouldn’t dilute that.

Up until 1983, the state Legislature was in charge of drawing legislative and congressional district boundaries and you can imagine how that went. So Washington state voters approved a constitutional amendment that took the task away from politicians and gave it to a redistricting commission.

The commission is comprised of two Democrats and two Republicans who are selected by the leaders of the Republican and Democratic caucuses in the state House and Senate. These four voting members then select a non-voting member to lead the group.

The commission expects the U.S. Census numbers to be released in late August, and then it has until Nov. 15 to redraw the boundaries. Three of the four members must agree to the final version. Only minor changes can be made by the Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee will have no authority over the map.

Considering the gerrymandering that is currently going on in other states, Washington citizens are fortunate that a commission is in charge of the redistricting process instead of elected officials with their own special interests.

The Democrat appointments to the commission are April Sims, who serves as secretary treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council, and Brady Piñero Walkinshaw, who served two terms in the Washington state legislature and is now the CEO of Grist, a national environmental media organization.

On the Republican side is Paul Graves, a lawyer and former state representative, and Joe Fain, president and CEO of the Bellevue Chamber and a former state senator.

The chair is Sarah Augustine, executive director of the Dispute Resolution Center of Yakima and Kittitas counties.

So far, it appears the redistricting commission is trying to be as transparent as possible, which is what we want. We recommend going to their website at redistricting.wa.gov to give your input and find out more about the process. Whatever map they draw will be the one we have to live with for the next 10 years.

This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 1:12 PM.