Contact: RJ Elliott | rj@srcc.org

April 2, 2024 -  Sen. John Braun issued the following statement on the United States Supreme Court decision to not enter a stay to Washington state’s new redistricting maps in the Soto Palmer litigation.  The order was released as Trevino, Jose A., et al. v. Palmer S., et al.

“The Supreme Court is always unlikely to act on a case before it is fully litigated. That played a large role in this case whose constitutional claims are still being litigated before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Regardless, it is abjectly unfair that national Democrat special interest groups led by Matt Barreto from UCLA partnered with Washington state legislative leaders to foist this discriminatory map upon Washington state Hispanics. They were aided in their efforts by an abysmal defense by Attorney General Bob Ferguson whose partisan bias was properly called out in the briefs of the case.

“Bottom line, this map DECREASES the Hispanic voting population in the new Yakima Valley majority minority district.  In addition, it disenfranchises the first eastern Washington Latina Senator by redistricting her out of her district, preventing her Hispanic constituents from receiving her outstanding service after the end of her term in two years.

“The map that will be in effect during the 2024 elections is racially discriminatory. And it is absolutely outrageous that Democrats and a Democrat-appointed judge are doing this under the guise of helping Hispanics.

“All this partisan gerrymandered map does is help Democrats to a greater share of political power. They reduce the number of Hispanics in the new majority minority district in order to cram more Democrats in. The new district goes from a Republican majority to a +14.4% Democrat majority.

“Illegitimate, gerrymandered power is what this is all about, and it is shameful.”

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