BRAD SHANNON, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA, WA - 9/25/01 -- Draft political maps unveiled Monday by the State Redistricting Commission raised the possibility that many Olympia area residents could vote next year for a U.S. representative who also represents Bremerton.

Elsewhere in the state, at least a half-dozen state legislators -- including outspoken Democrat Hans Dunshee of Snohomish and Don Benton, a Vancouver Republican who recently headed the state GOP -- could find they no longer live inside their district boundaries.

Boundary changes could pit them against incumbents from neighboring districts.

All of the proposals are in the draft stage, members of the redistricting commission said Monday, as they unveiled the first maps of how the state's population changes since 1990 could transform the political landscape.

"It is indeed like putting a puzzle together," said Democratic commissioner Bobbi Krebs-McMullen of Mount Vernon.

The proposed maps are complicated to understand or explain, and the commission is just starting the process of creating a single plan out of the four proposals.

What they end up with on Dec. 15 -- their legal deadline for completing a plan -- could look very different from Monday's proposals.

Shifting political power

"It's a real challenge to draw districts," said John Giese, a Republican commissioner who thought the task would be easier with modern computing technology. "There's hundreds if not thousands of ways to draw a legal plan."

Giese said that the plans are only drafts that will change as the commissioners meet and look for compromises.

Still, the two redistricting maps offered by Giese and the other Republican appointee, Dick Derham, move all or part of the Olympia area -- which now is represented by 3rd District U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, a Vancouver area Democrat -- to the 6th Congressional District, now held by U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, a Democrat from Pierce County.

This would cut away part of the liberal base that has helped Baird win two terms.

In contrast, the two Democratic plans would let Baird keep some or all of Olympia.

Opposition surfaces

Thurston County Democratic Party chairman Dave Kempher said the GOP plans are "ridiculous."

"They know Thurston County is a Democratic stronghold," Kempher said. "They want to split it up as much as possible to make it as ineffective as possible."

Kempher said the GOP also is gunning for Baird and wants to weaken his base.

But Derham, who proposed putting all of Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey into the 6th District, said he's heard arguments in favor of having the area in one district.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said the only two options for accommodating the population growth in the 3rd District are to either cut out more Grays Harbor voters or cut Olympia.

"Either way, the 3rd gets better," Vance said.

Vance predicted that Baird's district will be "a battleground next year."

Baird has vowed to resist efforts to take Olympia from his turf.

Minorities complain

Other criticisms were thrown at the proposed new state legislative boundaries.

A coalition of minority groups questioned why several of the plans appeared to divide bastions of minority population, diluting the clout of minority groups in the electoral process.

Of particular concern were the 11th and 37th legislative districts in south Seattle, said James Arima, who represents the Eastside Asian Pacific Islanders.

"They packed the 37th. The 11th was drastically changed by most of the (plans)," Arima said. "Instead of being two good districts where the people could feel they were represented, they made one, and the other is all split up.''

The Democratic plan drawn by Dean Foster of Olympia appeared to respect the minority communities of those legislative districts the most, Arima said.

State Rep. Bill Eickmeyer, D-Belfair, groaned as he looked at how his 35th District would lose parts of Bremerton under Democratic plans.

The Republican plans, which add more Olympia-area voters to his base, look better, Eickmeyer said.

Although several state legislators could find they no longer live in their old districts, no congressmen appear to face that fate. Overall it appeared neither party was declaring war on incumbents, Foster said.

"I was really pleased none of us went incumbent shopping," he said.

Public hearings next

The commission, which has met 27 times since January, plans three public hearings, including an Oct. 1 hearing in Centralia, to get comment on what looks right or wrong about the plans.

"It won't be very helpful to hear the same things again," Krebs-McMullen said. "I hope they'll look at these plans and tell us if we've made errors or overlooked something, or that we've done a good job.''

The commission also is making the draft maps available to the public via the Internet.

The commission's nonvoting chairman, Graham Johnson, said he believes the new political maps will have "a major impact on who chooses to run for public office and who is elected."

What's next

The State Redistricting Commission unveiled draft political boundary maps for the state's nine congressional and 49 legislative districts Monday. Three public hearings are have been set up to consider the plans:

- 7 p.m. Oct. 1 at Centralia College, 600 W. Locust Ave., Centralia (in the cafeteria in the Student Services Building).

- 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at North Seattle Community College.

- 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at Spokane Falls Community College.

To view the proposed plans and other information, visit the commission's Web site at www.redistricting.wa.gov, or call 360-586-9000. The commission faces a Dec. 15 deadline for submitting a plan to the Legislature, which can make only minor changes to the plan and only then with a two-thirds majority.

If no plan is agreed to, the state Supreme Court must adopt a plan by April 30, 2002.

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