To see actual PICTURES of the maps, check out my native site, "The Political Junkie" for screenshots.

You might remember the redistricting committee released their four proposals about a month ago. I wrote about ithere, and then about some of the sneaky redrawing of the lines here.  Now, after some tough negotiating, they have weaned it down to just two legislative maps to compare (the congressional maps aren't out yet.) Here is where you can look at them on google maps.

First the Republican proposal for Whatcom County:

As you can see, "Huff's Finger" has disappeared, leaving a pretty similar map to what we currently have. The lines for the 40th have moved northward, making the 42nd even harder territory for Democrats and reaffirming the 40th as a solid blue district.

This leaves almost the entire Lake Whatcom watershed in the hands of Vincent Buys, Jason Overstreet, and yes, that union-buster Doug Ericksen, who have shown very little regard for protecting our drinking water. But it would solidify Bellingham as a serious population base for the 40th. Luckily, all of our fantastic 40th representation take the Bellingham part of their population very seriously. My favorite representative, Kris Lytton, has moved her legislative office to Fairhaven along with Sen. Kevin Ranker, and Kris regularly holds brown bag lunch listening sessions on the third Monday of each month just to hear about Bellingham issues.

But back to the maps, nothing earth-shattering here.

The Democrat's plan is bit more bold. As we predicted last time, they extend the 39th legislative district up into Whatcom to sweep up everything east of Lynden. This peels a good chunk of conservative voters out of the battleground 42nd legislative district and into the safely Republican 39th, making the 42nd more competitive. Even more interesting, it relocates Vincent Buys, who lives in Everson, into the 39th forcing him to either move or run against his former fellow Republicans in the 39th.

This plan moves MOST of the Bellingham into the 42nd, and adds some serious rural votes to the 40th by including the Lake Whatcom Watershed and parts of the Foothills to that district.

Not surprisingly, I like this version the best. I like it because it makes EVERYTHING more competitive (aside from the 39th.) The Democrats in the 40th now have to persuade some of the conservative Foothills voters to support them, the 42nd representation now has to appeal to downtown urban Bellingham for a chunk of their votes. When we divide districts on ideological lines, it leads to gridlock, but when public officials have to represent a broad spectrum of views, it leads to moderation, compromise, and frankly, better governance for all.

My name is Riley Sweeney and I support the Ceis/Foster plan. How about you?