Washington's 3rd congressional district

Washington's 3rd congressional district
Current Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R–Camas)
Population (2000) 654,898
Median income $44,426
Ethnicity 89.8% White, 1.2% Black, 2.6% Asian, 4.6% Hispanic, 1.1% Native American, 0.4% other
Cook PVI R+4[1]

Washington's 3rd congressional district encompasses the southernmost portion of western and central Washington. It includes the counties of Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat, and a small sliver of southern Thurston county. The 3rd District is represented by Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler.

Established after the 1900 census, the Third District was represented by Democrats for most of the latter half of the 20th century, until Rep. Jolene Unsoeld was defeated by Republican Linda Smith as part of the Republican Revolution of 1994. Smith retired after two terms and was succeeded by Democrat Brian Baird. Baird announced he wouldn't run for reelection in 2010, with Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler winning the now open seat in the 2010 general election 53%-47% against Democratic representative Denny Heck, who was subsequently elected in Washington's 10th congressional district. Herrera Beutler retained her seat 60%-40% over Democrat Jon T. Haugen in 2012. In 2014, she beat Democrat Bob Dingethal by 61.5% to 38.5%.

In presidential elections, the 3rd District is rather competitive. It is the only part of western Washington that didn't swing heavily to the Democrats during the 1990s, and is one of the few districts in the country that cannot be considered safe for either party. It is home to Lewis County, far and away the most conservative county in western Washington. Additionally, most of the district is located in the Portland, Oregon market; voting patterns there are somewhat different than those in the areas closer to Seattle. George W. Bush narrowly carried the district in 2000 with 48% of the vote and again in 2004 with 50%. The district swung Democratic in 2008, giving Barack Obama 52% of the vote and 46% to John McCain. However, redistricting (see below) extended the district further east and made it slightly more Republican than its predecessor; had the current boundaries been in effect for the 2008 election, Obama would have only defeated McCain by 50.9 percent to 47.1 percent. In 2012, it gave Mitt Romney 49.6% to Obama's 47.9%.

The district from 2003 to 2013

Voting

Election results from presidential races
Year Office Results
2012 President Romney 49 - 47%
2008 President Obama 52 - 46%
2004 President Bush 50 - 48%
2000 President Bush 48 - 47%
1996 President Clinton 49 - 38%
1992 President Clinton 42 - 33%
1988 President Dukakis 51 - 47%
1984 President Reagan 53 - 45%
1980 President Reagan 50 - 38%
1976 President Carter 50 - 46%
1972 President Nixon 58 - 42%
1968 President Humphrey 52 - 42%
1964 President Johnson 70 - 30%
1960 President Kennedy 50 - 50%
1956 President Eisenhower 52 - 48%
1952 President Eisenhower 54 - 46%

List of representatives

Representative Party Years District Home Notes
District created March 4, 1909
Miles Poindexter Republican March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1911
William L. La Follette Republican March 4, 1911 – March 4, 1915 Redistricted to the 4th district
Albert Johnson Republican March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1933 Redistricted from the 2nd district
Martin Fernard Smith Democratic March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943
Fred B. Norman Republican January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945
Charles Raymon Savage Democratic January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947
Fred B. Norman Republican January 3, 1947 – April 18, 1947 Died
Vacant April 18, 1947 – July 7, 1947
Russell Vernon Mack Republican July 7, 1947 – March 28, 1960 Died
Vacant March 28, 1960 – November 8, 1960
Julia Butler Hansen Democratic November 8, 1960 – December 31, 1974
Vacant December 31, 1974 – January 3, 1975
Don Leroy Bonker Democratic January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1989
Jolene Unsoeld Democratic January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995
Linda Smith Republican January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1999 Hazel Dell
Brian Baird Democratic January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2011 Vancouver
Jaime Herrera Beutler Republican January 3, 2011 – present Camas

Census 2010 Redistricting

The Washington State Redistricting Commission is charged with adjusting congressional and legislative district boundaries after each decennial census. Given Washington State's growth over the previous decade, Washington gained an additional congressional district for the 113th congress. The third district needed to lose 106,894 people in the redistricting process in order to meet the ideal population of 672,454.[2] On September 13, 2011, the four voting commissioners on the Redistricting Commission submitted draft proposals for the congressional map. All four draft proposals left the entirety of Lewis, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, and Clark Counties, and all or most of Skamania county in the 3rd district. In addition, each proposal added population from one or more of Pacific, Thurston, Pierce, or Klickitat counties.[3] [4] [5] [6]

The final approved map for the 3rd district includes the entirety of Klickitat, Skamania, Clark, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, and Lewis counties, with the extreme southern part of Thurston county south of highway 12, Washington State Route 507, and the Vail Cut Off Road.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
  2. ↑ "2010 Congressional Malapportionment Report" (PDF). Washington State Redistricting Commission. Retrieved 14 Sep 2011.
  3. ↑ Ceis, Tim. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Ceis - September 13, 2011" (PDF). Washington State Redistricting Commission. Retrieved 14 Sep 2011.
  4. ↑ Gorton, Slade. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Gorton - September 13, 2011" (PDF). Washington State Redistricting Commission. Retrieved 14 Sep 2011.
  5. ↑ Foster, Dean. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Foster - September 13, 2011" (PDF). Washington State Redistricting Commission. Retrieved 14 Sep 2011.
  6. ↑ Huff, Tom. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Huff - September 13, 2011" (PDF). Washington State Redistricting Commission. Retrieved 14 Sep 2011.
  7. ↑ "Congressional District 3" (PDF). Washington Redistricting Commission. Retrieved 2012-05-06.

External links

Coordinates: 46°30′N 122°48′W / 46.500°N 122.800°W / 46.500; -122.800

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.