OLYMPIA, WA – A federal judge has rejected a request to ditch political maps for Washington’s Legislature that he approved two years ago.
Now, opponents are waiting to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on whether the maps comply with an April ruling from the high court in the case Louisiana v. Callais, which significantly curtailed the use of race in drawing districts.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik approved the redrawing of legislative district boundaries in 2024 to enhance the political voice of Latino voters in the Yakima Valley. This came in response to a lawsuit over the map the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission came up with in 2021.
Lasnik on Friday denied opponents’ motion to undo his changes and restore the commission-drawn boundaries.
In a 10-page order, Lasnik said Jose Trevino and state Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, didn’t have standing to file their motion for the revised map to be tossed out.
Trevino and Ybarra, who intervened in 2022 in the dispute, argued Lasnik’s earlier ruling doesn’t comply with the Callais decision.
They’ve also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case and have asked the high court to expedite consideration of their appeal.
“Expedited consideration of this motion and the petition for writ of certiorari is warranted because the 2026 elections in Washington, like every other State, are looming,” says a motion filed Friday by their attorneys, one of whom is state House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn.
Absent relief from the court, Washington’s elections will take place under a map that is impermissible based on the Callais ruling, they argue.
On Sunday, Trevino’s lawyers told the Supreme Court that with Lasnik’s decision, it is “the only remaining avenue” to ensure the state legislative map used in Washington’s upcoming election is in line with its recent ruling.
Lawyers representing the Latino plaintiffs in the original case oppose the request to speed up review of the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
They pointed to a concurrence authored in 2022 by Justice Brett Kavanaugh in an Alabama districting case. In it, he cites the “Purcell principle,” a bedrock tenet of election law, that discourages federal courts from swooping in and messing with a state’s laws in the run-up to an election.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs welcomed Lasnik’s ruling.
Hobbs warned that with candidate filing complete ahead of the Aug. 4 primary, a shift in the maps this year would’ve been a “recipe for chaos.” Sixty-seven candidates are seeking seats in the 13 districts that were redrawn in 2024, according to state election officials.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Supreme Court opted not to wade in on cases concerning legislative maps in Mississippi and North Dakota. Rather, in an unsigned court, they sent each case back to lower courts to be reconsidered in light of last month’s ruling.
This story updated with comment from Steve Hobbs.
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