Racial Equity Advocates Like Seattle’s Newly Proposed Political Boundaries. Magnolia Residents Do Not.
On Tuesday night, a racial equity coalition called Redistricting Justice [for] Seattle (RJS) got great news when the Seattle Redistricting Commission (SRC) revealed its first official proposal for redrawing the city's political boundaries. The commission's proposal heeded many of the coalition’s demands, including its top priority of keeping Asian and Black communities together in majority-minority District 2, which, under the new proposal, would cover the Chinatown-International District (CID), Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, Mount Baker, and Seward Park.
While the proposal does not reflect all of the coalition’s demands, according to Andrew Hong, the Statewide Coordinator at Redistricting Justice for Washington, the organizers will now play defense to keep the wins for the final version as other groups pick apart the proposal. Magnolia residents, who would be split into two districts under the new map, are already taking issue with their voting bloc on the chopping block.
…Hong said that council districts can help improve representation for people of color on the city council. Before the City instituted a district system, all nine council positions represented the entire city. In those elections, white people always held the majority in the electorate. But with districts, people of color held a majority in one council district, D2.
…The community-made map inspired somewhere between 50 and 100 people to tell the commission to adopt its map in full, Hong estimated. While RJS would love to advocate for D4 to be a more renter-heavy district, Hong sees…
