Maps recognize county’s red and blue divide

Published 12:01 am Sunday, September 18, 2011

It’s no secret those living in the rural confines of east Snohomish County consider themselves a far different breed from those residing in the urban corridor of the county’s west flank.

And vice-versa.

Levels of conservatism among residents — be it social, religious or political — rise measurably as one travels inland from the Puget Sound and around the Isle of Index.

Come election time, the dissimilarities manifest themselves most clearly. A majority of voters dwelling in the east favor Republicans, a majority of those inhabiting the west prefer Democrats and Highway 9 is often the dividing line between blue and red.

As unlike as their tendencies are, they nonetheless share one county and, for much of the state’s history, a representative in Congress and an electoral vote for president.

That may be not for much longer because the four voting members of the Washington Redistricting Commission recognize Snohomish County’s split personality and want to do something about it.

Each one is proposing to move much of east Snohomish County out of the district of Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen and into a new one where they are more likely to be served by a Republican with similar political proclivities.

Three of the four commissioners would put Arlington, Darrington, Monroe, Sultan, Granite Falls and Gold Bar in a district that crosses Stevens Pass into Eastern Washington. Obviously they figure those residents of those cities have more in common with those living in Wenatchee and Cle Elum than Everett and Mukilteo.

Two proposals unfurled this week move the Snohomish County communities into Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert’s district while the other two place them in a district with no incumbent.

Democrat Tim Ceis is one of those seeking to place the communities, along with Lake Stevens, in Reichert’s district. He’s redesigned the district to push it south to Eatonville in Pierce County and over the mountains into Chelan and Kittitas counties.

Democrat Dean Foster also slides the county’s eastern quadrant into Reichert’s district which would go over the mountains. The difference is he includes most of Marysville and none of Lake Stevens in his plan.

Republican Slade Gorton puts east Snohomish County minus Lake Stevens and Marysville in the state’s new 10th congressional district. It would stretch from the San Juan Islands to Okanogan County and include all of Island, Skagit and Whatcom counties.

And Republican Tom Huff carves out a completely new 1st Congressional District and fills part of it with a swath of Snohomish County. He draws Snohomish, Mill Creek, Lake Stevens and Marysville into this district along with all the aforementioned East County communities.

Certainly everything could change by November when this once-a-decade makeover of the state’s congressional district boundaries is to be concluded.

Commissioners are tasked with resetting every boundary and each decision causes a ripple effect on others.

Where they decide to locate the state’s new congressional seat will impact which communities are in it. If they choose to create a district in which minorities such as Asians, blacks and Hispanics make up a majority of the population, it will affect how other lines are drawn.

Parts of Snohomish County are likely to wind up in three and maybe four congressional districts when all is done. And Seattle’s Democratic Congressman-for-Life Jim McDermott could wind up representing Edmonds and Lynnwood as two commissioners are seeking.

There’s a ton of negotiating yet to occur among commissioners.

However, moving east Snohomish County is unlikely to be contentious as all four commissioners want to do so.

And they probably won’t get much argument from residents of Snohomish County, east and west.

Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

See the maps

You can view the commissioners’ proposed redistricting maps with this story at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet, or view the maps and offer your comments on them at www.redistricting.wa.gov.