The Seattle Redistricting Commission has kicked another local politics hornets nest with a last-minute proposal from a commissioner that would gerrymander the University of Washington campus — but not Greek Row and most of the school’s off-campus housing  — into District 3 representing neighborhoods to the south including Montlake, the Central District, and Capitol Hill.

The proposed map from commissioner Rory O’Sullivan

The proposed redistricting would see the UW campus join District 3 while the surrounding U-District neighborhood, including Greek Row and other off-campus student housing accommodations, in District 4.

The split would likely diminish the collective voting power of students by scattering UW votes across the two districts. D3, meanwhile, would see its young voter stock even further boosted.

“The University of Washington and University District are a cohesive community,” student Sean Haney said in a press release sent by Redistricting Justice Seattle. “We’re a connected renter, majority-BIPOC, student-heavy community that faces many unique challenges, and splitting us hurts our voice.”

The proposed amendments come only days before the SRC holds its final vote on the map amendments.

CHS reported here on the final weeks of proposed changes to the council redistricting process including moves to carve off some of highrise-zoned First Hill from District 3 as areas of Eastlake were added to the district led by Kshama Sawant.

Carving off some of the UW voting block for D3 wouldn’t be a terrible thing for Sawant and future progressive and left leaning D3 candidates but, politically speaking, it wouldn’t necessarily be a win for the city’s socialists as a whole. Without the consolidated student vote, D4 is more likely to be led by a center-leaning representative. The current district makeup produced City Councilmember Alex Pedersen, one of the few members of the council who sometimes sides with Sawant’s “no” votes on legislation. But where Sawant speaks to her votes on grounds of socialist ideology, Pedersen typically casts the rare “no” votes over fiscal concerns.

When initially adopted for the 2015 election, each district was drawn to include roughly 88,000 people. Seattle growth has not been distributed proportionately. Each district is likely to end up with a bit more than 100,000 people. District 3, including Capitol Hill, the Central District, and First Hill, has grown proportionately larger and needed its borders to shrink.

The changes based on demographic shifts and population growth have important political implications in determining what kinds of candidates can make it through the primary, and who ultimately gets elected.

When the earlier proposed redesigned map split the Magnolia neighborhood between Districts 6 and 7, the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce pushed back and the SRC backed off the plan. The compromised preserved the integrity of the Magnolia neighborhood within its district, but the amended map now would come at the cost of a unified UW campus and U-District.

Community members have less than a week to organize feedback on the proposed changes.

“It’s surprising and disappointing that it’s such a fast moving, wide changing map at this point in the game,” U District Partnership executive director Don Blakeney said.

The Redistricting Justice for Seattle Coalition has started a petition to urge the Commission to keep the UW community together in one district, as well as a community letter for District 4 organizations to sign on to.

The Redistricting Commission votes on final map changes on Monday, October 31st at 12 PM. Members of the public can register to give public testimony here or submit written public comment here.

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