Democrats notched a small redistricting win Wednesday with a new Washington state map that positions the party to win the state?s newly created district.
The proposal, unveiled by the state?s independent redistricting committee, establishes a new, Olympia-based seat that will favor Democrats. Washington is gaining one congressional seat in the current round of reapportionment, increasing its delegation from nine members to 10.
Continue ReadingDemocrat Denny Heck, a former state House majority leader, immediately announced on Wednesday that he would run for the new seat, releasing a statement titled ?Washington?s 10th Congressional District Ready to Give Congress Heck.? Heck, who has been preparing a bid for months in anticipation of the new map, has already secured a long line of endorsements, including from Reps. Norm Dicks, dean of the state?s delegation and a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Adam Smith.
But the new map is not a slam dunk for Democrats ? two Republican incumbents who were top Democratic targets are made slightly safer under the proposal. GOP Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a female member of the freshman class, and Dave Reichert will both shed Democratic-oriented areas that threatened their hold on the seats.
Democrats had been eyeing both lawmakers ? particularly Reichert, whom Democrats have targeted since he was elected to a suburban Seattle seat in 2004. Reichert, a former King County Sheriff, has never won election with more than 53 percent ? a sign that his hold on the Democratic-leaning district is tenuous.
Neither Herrera Beutler nor Reichert is entirely in the clear. Both are drawn into seats in which Democrats can still run competitively.
The plan establishes relatively safe seats for each of the other six members who are running for reelection. The 1st District seat of Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee, who is departing to run for governor, becomes slightly less favorable for Democrats.
After it gained a seat in reapportionment, the state briefly became a stomping grounds earlier this year for Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who publicly considered launching a bid in the state rather than seek reelection in Ohio, where Republicans dismantled the district he has held for eight terms. Kucinich eventually abandoned the idea, and on Wednesday filed to run against his Democratic colleague, Rep. Marcy Kaptur for a Toledo-area seat.
The commission has a Sunday deadline for making any final alterations to the draft map.
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