With its dead­line for sub­mit­ting new con­gres­sion­al and leg­isla­tive dis­trict maps fast approach­ing, Wash­ing­ton’s four Redis­trict­ing Com­mis­sion­ers announced at a short, ten-minute meet­ing today that they are mak­ing sig­nif­i­cant progress in draw­ing up new maps, and expect to have pre­lim­i­nary pro­pos­als to make pub­lic tomorrow.

The four com­mis­sion­ers — Slade Gor­ton, Tim Ceis, Tom Huff, and Dean Fos­ter — are each work­ing with a com­mis­sion­er from the oth­er par­ty on the new maps.

Gor­ton and Ceis have been draw­ing up a pro­pos­al for the con­gres­sion­al dis­tricts, while Fos­ter and Huff have been draw­ing up a pro­pos­al for the leg­isla­tive districts.

Pre­sum­ably, Fos­ter and Huf­f’s pro­pos­al will con­cern leg­isla­tive dis­trict bound­aries in east­ern Wash­ing­ton. (On Decem­ber 16th, the Com­mis­sion released draft leg­isla­tive maps for west­ern Wash­ing­ton. Ceis and Gor­don’s pro­pos­al cov­ered Puget Sound and the Cas­cade foothills, while Fos­ter and Huf­f’s pro­pos­al dealt with south­west Wash­ing­ton and the Olympic Peninsula).

Ceis and Gor­don’s con­gres­sion­al dis­trict pro­pos­al, how­ev­er, will be the first such draft released by the com­mis­sion. It won’t nec­es­sar­i­ly be the final pro­pos­al, but it’ll be cred­i­ble grist for spec­u­la­tion, unlike the indi­vid­ual maps the four com­mis­sion­ers each came up with back in the autumn.

Its unveil­ing is expect­ed to be the high­light of tomor­row’s meet­ing, with will con­vene at 11 AM in at the John A. Cher­berg Build­ing in Hear­ing Room 4. (This is the state Sen­ate’s office build­ing; it is locat­ed across from the Leg­isla­tive Build­ing on the Capi­tol Cam­pus, which is adja­cent to South Capi­tol Way).

Redis­trict­ing Com­mis­sion staff say that the pub­lic is wel­come to attend in per­son or watch and give com­ment dur­ing the inter­ac­tive web­cast on their “Get Involved” page. TVW will also be stream­ing the meet­ing live on its web­site.

About the author

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

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