Washington's Congressional Districts
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The following is a list of the ten congressional
districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of Washington. From the time that
Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...
was formed in 1853, through statehood in 1889,
Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...
elected an
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
non-voting Delegate to the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
. At different times in its history, the state of Washington has also elected one or more representatives At-large statewide. Washington gained its 10th district following reapportionment after the 2010 census.


Current districts and representatives

List of members of the United States House delegation from Washington, their terms, their district boundaries, and the district political ratings according to the CPVI. The delegation has a total of 10 members, including 8 Democrats and 2 Republicans.


Historical and present district boundaries

Table of United States congressional district boundary maps in the State of Washington, presented chronologically. All redistricting events that took place in Washington between 1973 and 2013 are shown.


Obsolete districts

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State redistricting procedures

Washington is one of 22 states that do not give direct control of
redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...
to the state's legislature. The state's congressional districts are determined by a four-member
Washington State Redistricting Commission The Washington State 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 i ...
that is appointed every ten years. Two members are appointed by both of the state's legislative branches, with the majority leader and minority leader from each selecting one person. The four appointed members then vote to appoint a fifth, non-partisan chairperson that cannot vote. The commission is disbanded once they have approved a redistricting plan. In 1981 Republicans attempted to
gerrymander Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
Tom Foley's fifth district by splitting
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
(the district's main population center) into two districts, but this was vetoed by Governor John Spellman. After they redrew districts in 1982, a federal court threw out the map for excessive population variation. New maps were drawn in 1983 by a five-member commission appointed by the legislature to avoid continued deadlock under a court-imposed deadline; the legislature had historically often failed to redistrict. In 1983, the voters approved a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to permanently establish a redistricting commission. The first commission created under the changes completed their work as part of the 1991 redistricting.


See also

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List of United States congressional districts Congressional districts in the United States are electoral divisions for the purpose of electing members of the United States House of Representatives. The number of voting seats within the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, wi ...


References


External links


Washington State Redistricting Commission
''
Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
'', January 13, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Congressional Districts Of Washington
Congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...