Washington's 9th congressional district encompasses a long, somewhat narrow area in

Western Washington Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as the area of Washington state west of the Cascade Mountains. This region is home to the state's largest city, Seattle, the state capital, Olympia, and most of the state's residents. T ...

, through the densely populated central

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 ma ...

region, from Tacoma in the south to

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

in the north. Since 1997, the 9th district has been represented in the

U.S. 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 ...

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

from Bellevue. Established after the 1990 U.S. census, the 9th district was originally drawn as a "fair fight" district. The first representative from the 9th district,

Mike Kreidler Myron Bradford Kreidler (born September 28, 1943) is an American physician and politician serving his sixth term as the eighth Washington Insurance Commissioner. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served one term in the Congress, r ...

(D), was defeated after one term by

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 ...

Randy Tate Randall John "Randy" Tate (born November 23, 1965) is an American politician and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Washington. Tate grew up in suburban Seattle and graduated with an Associate of Arts ...

; Tate, in turn, was defeated after one term by Smith. Since being first elected in 1996, Smith's moderate voting record and a strong Democratic trend in the Puget Sound region turned the formerly contentious district into a fairly safe Democratic seat.

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

and

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

each carried the 9th district, with 53% in 2000 and 2004, respectively.

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

won the district in 2008, with 59% of the vote. In 2011, the state began the process of

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

in response to population changes determined by the 2010 census. In the final report by the bipartisan redistricting commission issued in January 2012, the 9th district shifted to the north. The new district covered Bellevue, Southeast Seattle, and

Mercer Island Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle metropolitan area, with Seattle to its west and Bellevue to it ...

, but only went as far south as the southern tip of

Commencement Bay Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in ...

in Tacoma. As of the 2012 redistricting, it is now a

majority-minority A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a subdivision in which one or more racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a majority of the local population. Ter ...

district. It is also the second-most Democratic district in the state; only the neighboring 7th district, covering the rest of Seattle, is more Democratic. WA09 109

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

References

External links

Interactive Map at Adam Smith's House websiteWashington State Redistricting Commission
'' Seattle Times'', January 13, 2012
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{coord, 47, 10, N, 122, 18, W, format=dms, display=title, type:adm1st_region:US-WA 09

Recent results from presidential races