District stretches across county line

The new boundaries of the 32nd Legislative District have created a suburban district that takes effect with the casting of ballots in the primary election on Sept. 17.

But the change may be more geographical than political.

The new district said goodbye to a number of precincts south of 145th, in the city of Seattle. The new district gained some precincts near Kenmore and about 12,000 south Snohomish County voters.

The new “tail” on the 32nd District takes in all of the city of Woodway and most of Edmonds west of Lake Ballinger.

While this area is traditionally thought of as Republican, an analysis of recent voting patterns shows that many of the shifted voters, about 12,000 in all, should feel quite comfortable being part of a predominantly Democratic district.

The shifted precincts were part of a 21st District that in the course of the 1990s had gone from a solid Republican delegation in Olympia – Gary Nelson, Jeannette Wood, John Beck – to a Democratic enclave with Sen. Paull Shin, D-Mukilteo, Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds and Rep. Brian Sullivan, D-Mukilteo.

A look at the 2000 presidential election may best illustrate the change, given that legislative candidates are often locally well known from past public service and community activities.

In balloting for president, Washington state as a whole voted 50.15 percent for Gore and 44.57 percent for Bush. The Nader ticket attracted 4.14 percent of the vote.

In the precincts that were shifted into the 32nd District, the vote took a decidedly Democratic twist.

Gore pulled in 58.47 percent of the vote while Bush managed just 40.91 percent. Of the 26 precincts shifted in whole or partially, only three fell into the Bush camp. Two were the precincts of the historically Republican Woodway. The other was a marginal win, by just one vote, 222-221 in Edmonds 6, a precinct of homes along the south end of the Edmonds bowl.

For longtime political activist Daniel Harkleroad, a former chair of the 32nd District Democrats, the change is fair and nothing out of the ordinary ebb and flow of redistricting he has seen over the past three decades in the area.

“This was as good a job as the redistricting commission could do,” said Harkleroad. “Three of the four commissioners had a map close to this in their proposals. It is all a jigsaw puzzle. If you move one piece, another has to move.”

Redistricting is performed by a commission consisting of two Democrats and two Republicans appointed by the Legislature.

“The net change is very slight,” said Harkleroad. “The figures the commission used showed that a Democratic candidate would have their majority drop from something around 62 percent to 56 percent.”

The addition of Edmonds and Woodway and the loss of north Seattle precincts makes the district a truly suburban district.

According to Harkleroad, the change means that people are going to have to be more aware of the issues in the area, no matter their party affiliation.

“We have to think more about what happens across 205th (the county line), our issues are often the same,” he said. “We have become more similar over time, with more established housing, more new residents and more apartments.”