I think Marko lives in Edmonds now - putting him in McDermott's 7th district.

@1: Well, either way, that's not the 1st. Maybe Marko needs to wait a few years for Jim to retire. He'd actually be a good fit for Seattle.

"Edmonds", goldy, not "Edmunds". thank you.

Goldy, ANYONE who has been paying attention knew this was going to happen.

I sent you an e-mail on May 25th warning you about about a Republican gerrymander, but I never heard back.

The Stranger should have been covering this for a long time, but now it's probably too late. Our only hope is to pressure the Democrats to let the courts draw this map, and that probably won't happen.

Typical leftist creating a issue where there is none, this is a win for both sides, Dems look to have 4 safe seats and one swing but then the left will never stop bitching and moaning will they

I don't much care what people say. I see these lines as opportunities, and I'm not letting go of that view until the 2021 redistricting commission comes out with their maps...

@ 8 Elections year matter put up 1098 in 2012 and it will do a lot better, lot more Democratic turnout

Sorry that four safe, 1 lean, and one swing but Dems lost because of that?

If the Democrats could stop with the circular firing squad, we could get 10 D districts out of this.

Oh, never mind...

I don't much care for what they've done to Northwest Washington. It made more sense for all of Whatcom/Skagit/Island/San Juan counties and most of Snohomish to be in the same district under old #2. The flows of commerce and community up there run together. Splitting Bellingham off from Mt. Vernon, and Mt. Vernon from Anacortes just doens't make sense. They've basically carved the starboard side of Puget Sound off into the new #2 and put the rural communities of Whatcom, Skagit & Snohomish counties in with the KingCo suburbs. It don't make sense. No sir, I don't like it.

Maybe my perspective on this is skewed based on a lifetime of living in liberal centers surrounded by deep-reds who desperately want to bite chunks out of our electoral power (Austin, Seattle), but it seems like redistricting is always a win for Republicans.

@17, have you never heard of Tom Delay, or are you just not old enough to remember him? If rigged redistricting is a Democratic maneuver in the history books, it sure hasn't been in my lifetime.

The term gerrymandering was coined before the Democratic Party even existed. Nice try, troll.

Yup. Big win for big Slade, and a pyrrhic "win" for the Win/Win Network.

None of the proposed districts looks gerrymandered. The 8th is slightly misshapen, but no biggie by gerrymandering standards.

Microsoft will likely now be represented by some hayseed from Darrington or Lynden who will want to raise tariffs, ban trade with China and kill the HBI visa program.

South Seattle and South King are rapidly gentrifying in part due to the influx of middle class Asian-Americans.

A few thoughts.

1. The same complaints you have about Denny Heck apply to Darcy Burner.

2. I wouldn't call the 10th a D district at all. JBLM has a ton of people who are in that area, and that population is growing. I'd say at best it's a lean D district, but if I was a GOP operative, that district is one that should be ripe for the taking.

3. Darcy Burner's campaign died today. I'm not sure if she's now in the 8th or the 1st, but there's no way in hell she's getting elected to either.

4. It's bizarre that there's this big effort to make a majority minority district...which is then gerrymandered to keep Adam Smith's house in it, so he can presumably be re-elected. Why not make him part of a district that's better suited to him, i.e. the 10th.

There was never a snow-ball's shot that the Dems would "win" this one, no more than the GOP would, either. This is what a compromise looks like. This is what our system is based on, the idea of compromise. Big fucking deal.

A few could have gone either way, but there are no ridiculous boundaries here. The accusations of gerrymandering are just your typical hyperbole.

There are far more important things to get upset about, like Gregoire's budget, the legislature's inability to raise revenue, the ludicrous deadlock in Congress.

FTR, Goldy, the new WA-03 doesn't come anywhere close to Tacoma. There's an entire Congressional District (WA-10, which is what you meant to say) between them.

Would the author prefer they create 10 safe Democratic districts?

@29: Yes. I'd prefer 10 safe Democratic districts. But since that's not possible, I would have settled for three safe Republican districts, and a slightly more Democratic 1st CD that didn't carve in a place for Koster.

I also think making sacrifices to carve out a district for Heck, and to create a marginally "majority-minority" district was stupid and short-sighted. The Republicans certainly got the best of these deals.

"I'd prefer 10 safe Democratic districts." So you're _for_ gerrymandering, then?

Listen, the Dems negotiated for those districts you don't like. I personally think Heck is a chucklehead, but that's party politics. When you compare how WA handled the redistricting to the other states in the union, we're clearly at the top in regards to fairness & equanimity.