Washington's 10th congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

in western

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The district is centered on the state capital, Olympia, and includes portions of Thurston and Pierce counties (including parts of Tacoma). It was created after the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

, which granted Washington an additional congressional seat, bringing the number of seats apportioned to the state up from 9 to 10, and elected

Denny Heck Dennis Lynn Heck (born July 29, 1952) is an American entrepreneur and politician serving as the 17th lieutenant governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 10th con ...

as its first member to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in the 2012 elections.

Marilyn Strickland Marilyn Strickland (born September 25, 1962) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from Washington's 10th congressional district. The district is based in the state capital of Olympia, and also includes much of eastern Tacom ...

was elected in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

to replace him after he retired to run for Lieutenant Governor.

Redistricting 2011-2012

By Washington state law, a non-partisan commission composed of two Republicans, two Democrats, and a non-voting chairperson drew the boundaries for this new district, as well as the new boundaries for Washington's existing districts. The

Washington Redistricting Commission The Washington Redistricting Commission is a decennial body charged with redrawing congressional and legislative districts in the state of Washington after each census. On November 8, 1983, Washington state passed the 74th amendment to its cons ...

was tasked with drawing the maps for congressional and legislative districts in the year after each census, including the new 10th congressional district. The first commissioners' maps were released on September 13, 2011. In addition, several third party maps were submitted to the commissioners by citizens and advocacy groups.

Commissioner Tim Ceis

Commissioner Ceis, representing the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Democratic leadership, submitted a draft plan that would place the new 10th district in SW Pierce, northern Thurston, eastern Mason, and far southern

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

counties. It would include the cities of Shelton, Olympia, Fircrest,

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

Puyallup Puyallup may refer to: * Puyallup (tribe), a Native American tribe * Puyallup, Washington, a city ** Puyallup High School ** Puyallup School District ** Puyallup station, a Sounder commuter rail station ** Washington State Fair, formerly the ...

, and part of Tacoma.

Federal Way Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-larg ...

, Auburn, Bonney Lake, Orting, Yelm, and McCleary were just outside the borders of the proposed 10th district. This proposed 10th district voted for Democrat

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

over

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Dino Rossi about 53.7/46.3 in the 2010 Senate Election, and is around 68.3%

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

Commissioner Slade Gorton

Commissioner Gorton, representing the Senate Republican leadership, submitted a draft plan placing the new 10th district across the northern part of the state, straddling the

Cascade mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, a ...

to take in

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, Whatcom, Skagit, Chelan,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, Okanogan, northern and eastern parts of Snohmish county, and the city of Skykomish in King county. It would have included the cities of Bellingham, Granite Falls, Arlington, Monroe,

Wenatchee Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and largest city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and was estimated to have increased to 34,360 as of 2019. Located in the north-central part ...

, Iroville, and most of Coulee Dam.

Grand Coulee Grand Coulee is an ancient river bed in the U.S. state of Washington. This National Natural Landmark stretches for about 60 miles (100 km) southwest from Grand Coulee Dam to Soap Lake, being bisected by Dry Falls into the Upper and Lower ...

, Quincy,

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, and Marysville were just outside the proposed boundaries. This proposed 10th district voted for Republican Dino Rossi over Democrat Patty Murray about 52.6/47.4, and is 79% white. Gorton's proposal also suggested the possibility of renumbering the congressional districts from west to east, which would mean that district No. 10 would be in the far east of the state, where the existing (pre-2012) 5th district was located.

Commissioner Dean Foster

Commissioner Foster, representing the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

Democratic leadership, submitted a draft plan that would place the new 10th district on the Pacific Coast,

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a ...

, and south

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

, taking in

Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels floo ...

, Clallam, all but the easternmost portion of Jefferson, western Mason, northern Thurston, and southwest Pierce counties. It would include

Sequim Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim lies within the rain shadow of the Olympic M ...

, Olympia, Fife, Puyallup, Eatonville, and Steilacoom, while excluding Shelton, Port Townsend, Lakewood, Sumner, Orting, Tacoma, and Yelm. This proposed 10th district voted for Democrat Patty Murray over Republican Dino Rossi 51.3/48.7, and is 75.8% white.

Commissioner Tom Huff

Commissioner Huff, representing the House Republican leadership, submitted a draft plan that would make the new 10th district a majority-minority district, entirely in south King county. It would include, Federal Way, Kent, Newcastle, SeaTac, Des Moines, Pacific, and parts of south Seattle, Auburn, and Burien. This proposed 10th district voted for Democrat Patty Murray over Republican Dino Rossi 63/37, and is 48.8% white, 19.9% Asian, 13.6% Hispanic, 11.9% Black, and 5.9% Native and others.

Third-party submissions

Several third parties submitted draft plans to the Redistricting Commission for consideration. Of those plans, United for Fair Representation WA / Win-Win Network submitted a plan quite similar to Commissioner Foster's draft proposal for the 10th district. John Milem's submission includes a district that closely matches Commissioner Gorton's draft proposal for the 10th. United for Fair Representation's Unity map proposal also has a district quite similar to the draft proposal from Commissioner Ceis. Van Anderson submitted a proposal that includes a coastal/Olympic peninsula 10th district similar to Commissioner Foster's draft proposal for the 10th district.

The Gorton/Ceis compromise

At the December 16, 2011 Redistricting Commission meeting, Commissioners Gorton and Ceis were tasked with developing the 2012 congressional district map, while Commissioners Foster and Huff worked on a legislative plan for

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanf ...

. At the December 28 meeting, Commissioners Ceis and Gorton released a proposed congressional map which created a 10th district centered on Olympia including Fort Lewis/McChord Air Field (

Joint Base Lewis-McChord A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...

facility), McNeil and

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

islands, the cities of Shelton, Tenino, University Place,

, Edgewood, Sumner, most of eastern Tacoma, and the Pierce County portions of Milton and

. The final map of the 10th congressional district did not deviate significantly from the Gorton/Ceis proposal (see next para.). The

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

will be able to amend the finalized Commission borders by up to 2% of the population with a supermajority vote.

Final Commission-approved Plan

The Washington Redistricting Commission officially approved a congressional redistricting plan for the approval of the state legislature on January 1, 2012, just before 10 pm, two hours before the statutory deadline. The final congressional plan for the 10th district closely mirrored the Gorton/Ceis proposal, except that the cities of Milton and Pacific were placed entirely in the 8th district, instead of being split at the King/Pierce county line. In compensation for the loss of Milton and Pacific, the dividing line between the 10th and 8th districts was altered to include a larger population between Puyallup and Roy.

Voting

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

References

External links

Washington State Redistricting Commission
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Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

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