Eli, "Washington state" not "Washington State". The word "state" is not part of the proper noun that names our state, so don't capitalize it.

Our state MoS specifies this.

Washington's redistricting process may seem "scrupulously fair" compared to Illinois, but the only participants are the two major parties. They divide up the spoils between them, attempting to create an equal number of one-party districts and a minimum number of swing districts. Preserving incumbent congressman is a top priority.

All the real decisions are made in party caucuses, behind closed doors. Sorry, Eli, it's still as corrupt as Hell.

Maybe the online version is missing something or maybe I'm not reading very well, but uh, that ain't what the fourth and fifth district look like.

Is that map supposed to be speculative or satire or what (and yes, I read the captions)?

gillans @5,

The eastern part of Eastern Washington is cut off, so that Spokane and most of the 5th district isn't shown.

As for whether we even get a seat, it looks like the unknown is whether Missouri loses a seat to Washington. Those are the two states on the bubble.

With or without a new district, I'm not sure if the line along the middle of the state can be maintained. The current districts have matching populations with a variance of 7 voters maximum. If the population growth on either side of the mountains has significantly outpaced the growth on the other side, there's probably going to have to be a cross-mountain district. I'm actually surprised they were able to have such equally-sized districts with the border along the mountains.

Sorry girls-
our sources say no new seat for Washington:

That data is based on the 2008 US Census projections (which you swiped from Wikipedia and wrapped in the crappiest fake AP story in history; I mean, seriously, elementary school newspaper reporters know more about writing wire copy than you).

The 2009 Census estimates point to Washington being on the bubble for a 10th seat. See here.

Washington is definitely on the bubble, but it's more than likely going to happen.

Interestingly, Washington might gain a seat while California loses one. All depends on whether the continual influx into the Bay Area and LA is enough to offset the flight out of the Central Valley.

It's time to split up WA into 2 states, OR into 2 states, and CA into 5 states.

Will-in-Seattle (Lucky Number 8),

I'd prefer to just divide California into two states, North and South, with the border being just north of Santa Barbara.

I like the one state of Washington and how we split along the Cascades.

@9 nah, Santa Barbara needs to belong to a nice blue state.

Over at Swing State Project someone came up with a 10 CD map.

http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/7…

Another version is here:

http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/8…