A U.S. District Court judge has adopted a new Washington legislative map to create a majority-Latino voting district in the Yakima area. The map was chosen three years after the state’s once-a-decade political redistricting process began, but in time for the 2024 election.
The decision was left to Judge Robert Lasnik after the state, and Secretary of State Steven Hobbs, were sued after the Washington State Redistricting Commission completed its work, with plaintiffs saying the original map did not comply with federal voting-rights law.
Under the new map, known as Remedial Map 3B, the Latino-majority district unites Latino communities from East Yakima in Yakima County to Pasco in Franklin County. The Latino district was also switched from the 15th Legislative District to the 14th to ensure that state Senate elections will fall on a presidential year when Latino voter turnout is generally higher.
In August, Lasnik ruled that the 15th Legislative District in Central Washington, drawn by the Washington State Redistricting Commission in 2021, diluted voting power for Latinos in the region, siding with the plaintiffs in Palmer v. Hobbs.
In his court order, submitted Friday, Lasnik noted that while the percentage of Latino voters in the redrawn 14th Legislative District was lower than the Latino-majority district in the map drawn by the commission, the new map was configured in a way that Latino voters could better elect their candidate of choice.
Simone Leeper, an attorney for the Campaign Legal Center representing the plaintiffs, said Friday’s ruling built on past successes that extended voting rights for Latino voters in the Yakima Valley.
Over the last decade, several court cases led to district-based voting in the city of Yakima and in Yakima and Franklin counties. Now, with the adoption of a new map and a redrawn Latino voter majority district, Leeper said voters can elect state legislators who will better represent their interests.
“This is years and years of hard work,” she said.
Not all were thrilled by Friday’s court order. State Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, who was elected to represent the disputed 15th District in 2022, called the new map a “mockery of the Voting Rights Act.” Under the new map, Torres is no longer within the boundaries of the 15th District.
“I can stay the next two years, but then I’ll be cut off from helping the constituents who I grew up with and who I love to serve,” Torres said in a written statement. “The Voting Rights Act was supposed to empower affected minority populations. This map decreased the number of Hispanics in the majority-minority district and [draws] out the first Hispanic senator in Eastern Washington history.”
Lasnik felt the map preserved as much of the Yakama Nation Reservation and its off-site lands and fishing villages as possible within one district, the 14th. Lasnik noted that it was unrealistic to include all the Yakama lands without overpopulating the 14th Legislative District. That would violate the redistricting principle of keeping districts as equal in population as possible, and perpetuate the vote dilution that was a key issue in the original lawsuit.
Yakama Nation Tribal Council chairman Gerald Lewis said the tribe was grateful that the new map preserved the reservation boundaries and most of the off-site tribal lands, particularly those along the Columbia River, where many of the tribe's members live. He also feels having both the Yakama Nation and Latino communities in the same district opens up the line of communication between voters in those communities.
However, Lewis said he anticipates the Yakama Nation to advocate for more of its members to be incorporated into a single district during the next redistricting process a few years from now.
"It's extremely important that we always try to remember our people, especially those along the Columbia River," he said.
Five maps were submitted by the plaintiffs late last year. Remedial Map 3 was revised once to minimize its impact on incumbent legislators in neighboring districts, then revised again in response to requests by Lasnik during a hearing last week.
The Legislature’s Democratic majority declined to reconvene the bipartisan redistricting commission despite objections from Republican leaders, leaving the court to oversee the process.
In concluding his ruling, Lasnik acknowledged that this job does not fall within the “[U.S. District] Court’s normal duties,” but said he felt confident that the process resulted in a map that remediated the voting-rights violation, thanks in part to the assistance of Karin Mac Donald, a redistricting expert picked by the court as special master. He also credited the extensive process, which included testimony from experts for both the plaintiffs and conservative Latinos who intervened in the case.
Intervenors, including State Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, in the neighboring 13th Legislative District, were allowed to submit an alternative map and voice several concerns, including claims that too many residents were relocated, too many neighboring districts were impacted, and Democrats would gain a greater advantage in getting their candidates elected in regions historically safe for Republicans.
Lasnik, in his order, said while it was a downside that the new map led to changes to 13 neighboring legislative districts, the move was necessary to unite Latino communities and resolve the voting-rights violation of the original map drawn by the commission. Lasnik also noted that the shifts in different districts’ populations were a “normal redistricting occurrence.”
As to the concerns regarding partisanship, Lasnik said in his order that even with the changes in the adopted map, ultimately, the map does not “meaningfully shift the partisan balance of the State” and “was not drawn (or adopted) purposely to favor one political party over the other.”
Attorneys for Intervenors took swift action on Friday, filling an emergency notice of appeal and looking to be granted a stay to prevent the map’s adoption, said Drew Stokesbary, attorney for the intervenors. Stokesbary, R-Auburn, is also a state representative serving as House Republican Leader.
This version of the story was edited to add reaction to the decision.
