The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 this week that Louisiana's 2024 congressional map, which created a second majority-Black district, constituted an illegal racial gerrymander. The decision narrows how states can consider race when drawing electoral districts under the Voting Rights Act, and it has prompted fresh scrutiny of Washington state's own redistricting decisions made three years earlier.
State Senator Nikki Torres, a Republican representing the 15th Legislative District, was displaced by Washington's 2021 redistricting that carved out a majority-Latino voting district in central Washington. Torres has since moved to run in the 8th District, and she views the Supreme Court's Louisiana decision as potential vindication. "It would have been nice if they would have issued this decision sooner, because many of us had to jump around, especially myself," she said in a recent interview.
Torres contends that the 2021 redistricting backfired despite its stated purpose. According to her account, the Latino voting age population in the redrawn maps actually declined to 49 percent from approximately 50.1 or 50.2 percent in the original configuration. "When they redrew the maps, they actually diluted the Latino vote," she said.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik had adopted the new Washington legislative map following his August 2023 ruling in Soto Palmer v. Hobbs. The maps drawn by the Washington State Redistricting Commission for the Yakima Valley region had "cracked," or diluted, Latino voting power by connecting communities from East Yakima in Yakima County to Pasco in Franklin County. The district was shifted from the 15th to the 14th Legislative District partly to align state Senate elections with presidential election years, when Latino voter turnout typically increases.
Torres blames the majority party for initiating the 2021 redistricting knowing the outcome in advance. "The majority party started this in 2021 when they knew the new maps were going to be drawn off the census and they fought it in court and they knew they were going to get their way, and they did," she said.
The redistricting fallout extends beyond Torres. Republican Gabe Galbraith, president of the Kennewick school board, is challenging Torres in the August primary for the 8th District state Senate seat and has criticized her relocation to remain in the chamber. Meanwhile, State Representative Jeremie Dufault and others are vying for the Senate seat Torres is vacating. Current 8th District Senator Matt Boehnke is running for the U.S. House seat held by Representative Dan Newhouse, who is not seeking reelection.
