Federal Judge Robert Lasnik dismissed a suit brought by a group of Republicans who challenged the state's new legislative district boundaries. The plaintiffs' argument relied on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a Louisiana district created to bolster African American voting strength. The judge ruled that race was not the predominant factor in Washington's redistricting.
The map changes occurred in 2024 after the same judge found that the previous boundaries had diluted Latino voting strength in the Yakima Valley and Pasco area. Those regions are agricultural centers of the state, known for apples, hops and wine. They are home to one of the state's largest Latino communities, accounting for as much as 50–60% of the population, making them pivotal in election campaigns. The new map created a 14th legislative district with a Latino majority, which civil-rights advocates say strengthened the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Republicans argued that the Supreme Court's Louisiana decision made this map unlawful because race was allegedly used excessively. But Lasnik said the plaintiffs produced no evidence that race predominated in the mapmaking — a conclusion earlier upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears appeals from nine Western states. That court had already affirmed that districts in the Yakima Valley were drawn to dilute Latino voters' power, a finding that could set a precedent for other states with similar demographics.
The state Republican Party criticized the judge's decision as "biased in favor of Democrats," saying that "a judge of integrity" would have restored the maps to their original boundaries. Democrats, in turn, welcomed the ruling, saying it averted "chaos in the state's primaries," unlike the Supreme Court's decision in the Louisiana case.
The dispute is part of a nationwide battle over redistricting between Democrats and Republicans. All eyes now turn to whether the Supreme Court will weigh in, especially after its conservative majority in April significantly limited the use of racial criteria in creating districts.
The situation is complicated by the approaching November 2024 midterm elections. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, the state's top elections official and a defendant in redistricting lawsuits, urged courts not to change district lines at the last minute. Plaintiffs in the original Soto Palmer v. Hobbs case also asked that courts await any potential Supreme Court ruling. Earlier, in 2023, Lasnik had already ruled that the old map had violated Latino voters' rights.
