Washington’s Redistricting Commissioners Confident They’ll Meet Deadline, But Face Pushback Over South Seattle Plans
South Seattle has “vastly different priorities than the rest of Seattle,” said Andrew Hong, statewide director for Redistricting Justice for Washington, a coalition of progressive groups lobbying for a more diverse 9th District map.
In an interview, Hong called all of the initial maps “inadequate” and said Democratic commissioners have to some extent prioritized protecting incumbents, such as U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Bellevue, the longtime congressman from the 9th District.
“To me, this whole mess shows that bipartisan is not the same as nonpartisan,” said Aram Falsafi, a resident of Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood, criticizing commissioners from both political parties during Monday’s public meeting. “If this process fails the residents of South Seattle, some of us are going to work extra hard … to make sure the next redistricting commission is actually nonpartisan with no political hacks.”
