The Aug. 7 primary election will provide voters with several decisions to make, including choosing among some candidates and offices that may be new to them.
Recent redistricting has changed the boundaries of state legislative districts including districts 14, 15, 17, 18 and 20 in Southwest Washington.
Thousands of Clark County residents who voted for years in the 18th District now find themselves in the 20th District. Thousands more Clark County residents have been removed from the 15th District, and a few thousand are now in the 14th District.
In addition, thousands of Cowlitz County residents have been moved from the 18th District to the 20th District. No one in Woodland or anywhere else in Cowlitz County remains in the 18th District.
Incumbent office holders representing the 20th district live in Chehalis and Rochester. Ed Orcutt, who was a state representative in the 18th district, lives in Kalama, which is now in the 20th District. Orcutt will now seek election in that District.
Incumbent office holders in the 14th District reside in the Yakima-Sunnyside area.
Every 10 years following a federal census, each jurisdiction that elects representatives must review the balance of population between districts and redraw boundaries as necessary to incorporate approximately equal numbers of people in each district.
The 2010 federal census showed that the Washington State population is just over 6.7 million people, an increase of nearly one million people in the previous 10 years.
A bipartisan Washington State Redistricting Commission was established for the purpose of redrawing legislative and congressional boundaries. The Commission began its work in April 2011 and concluded its efforts on Jan. 1, 2012. It was disbanded June 28 and its offices closed.
Bonnie Bunning, who served as executive director of the Redistricting Commission, said one goal of the Commission was to draw boundaries so as to have about 137,236 people in each of Washington’s 49 state legislative districts. The target population 10 years earlier was 120,288 people.
Following the redistricting work 10 years ago, the 18th Legislative District encompassed about 100,000 Clark County residents, including most of North Clark County, and about 22,000 Cowlitz County residents.
The 2010 census put the population of the 18th District at 160,083. The Redistricting Commission reduced the boundaries of the 18th District so that it would conform to the target population.
The 20th District, which was previously centered in Lewis County, now extends southward through Cowlitz County and into the northern portions of Clark County. About 10,200 Clark County residents who were previously in the 18th District are now in the 20th District. Of those, about 7,100 are of voting age.
And Cowlitz County, including Woodland, has been removed entirely from the 18th District, moving some 33,000 people from the 18th District to the 20th District.
In addition, the boundaries of the 17th District have been modified to achieve the population goal. The 2010 census put the population of the 17th District at 150,727. The redistricting process reduced the 17th District to an estimated population of 137,248 people.
The Clark County auditors office notified voters, by letter, who were affected by the redistricting process and boundary changes. Officials plan to mail ballots for the August 7 primary election on July 18.
Detailed maps of the boundaries of each of these districts are available at clark.wa.gov/index.html.
In other work, the Redistricting Commission also dealt with the boundaries of the Third Congressional District. Bunning said Klickitat County is now in the Third Congressional District, while the northern boundary of the District does not extend as far into Thurston County as it previously did.
Voting members of the Redistricting Commission were former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton, former Seattle deputy mayor Tim Ceis, former Sears and Roebuck executive Tom Huff, and Dean Foster who was chief of staff to Gov. Booth Gardner. Lura Powell, former senior vice president of Battelle, served as non-voting chair of the Commission.
Plenty of candidates
There is no shortage of candidates for statewide offices, where nine people have filed for Governor, five for Lt. Governor, seven for Secretary of State, four for Auditor, and five for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Seven candidates filed for election as a commissioner of Clark Public Utilities, all seeking to replace the retiring Carol Curtis.
Nine candidates have filed for two positions on the board of Clark County commissioner. Both incumbents are seeking reelection. Incumbent Republican Tom Mielke will face Democrats Joe Tanner and Ron Barca, fellow Republican Darren Wertz, and Independent Robert Freund. Three challengers want the commissioner post now held by Republican Marc Boldt. They are Republican David Madore, Democrat Roman Battan, and Independent Pat Campbell.
State Sen. Joe Zarelli of the 18th District did not file for reelection. He also resigned before his term expired. On June 25, the commissioners of Clark and Cowlitz counties appointed Republican Ann Rivers to replace Zarelli in the state senate. Rivers, a resident of La Center, had previously filed to run for the same senate position. She will face Democrat Ralph Schmidt of Camas.
Republican Brandon Vick will run unopposed for one state representative post from the 18th District, while Republican Liz Pike and Democrats David Shehorn and Ryan Gompertz will face off for the other position.
In the 17th District, incumbent Republican senator Don Benton is being challenged by Democrat Tim Probst. Republicans Julie Olson and Matthew Homola, plus Democrat Monica Stonier, will face off for one representative position in the 17th District, while Republican Paul Harris and Democrat Jim Gizzi will vie for the other post.
The 20th District senatorial race will be among three Republicans – Dan Swecker of Rochester, John Braun of Chehalis and Rae Lowery of La Center. Republican Ed Orcutt will face fellow Republican John Morgan of Rochester in the race for one 20th District representative position, while Republican Richard DeBolt of Chehalis will run unopposed for the other position.
The two candidates for each office with the highest vote count in the primary election advance to the general election, even if those two candidates are of the same party.
The Clark County elections office may be reached at (360) 397-2345, and the elections office in Cowlitz County may be reached at (360) 577-3005.
Marvin Case is Publisher Emeritus of The Reflector Newspaper. He may be reached at (360) 687-4122 and at marvincase@msn.com.
