This Washington
Majority-Latino District Won't Have Majority-Latino Vote
Although Democrats and liberals are praising the state redistricting commission for creating the state's first-ever majority-Latino District---the 15th in South-Central Washington, which takes in parts of Yakima, Selah, and Union Gap and is now 54.5 percent Hispanic---the actual Latino voting population will likely fall well under 50 percent.
There are two reasons that the 15th's Latino majority isn't likely to translate into a Latino voting majority.
First, the 54.5 percent figure includes all residents, including those who are not yet of voting age. Including only those Latino residents who are 18 and older, 46.91 percent of the district's residents are Latino, according to the immigrants' rights group OneAmerica.
Second, that estimate includes undocumented immigrants, many of them agricultural workers at the many farms that fill the Yakima Valley, and are not eligible to vote. According to OneAmerica spokesman Charlie McAteer, there are no reliable estimates of the number of undocumented residents in the area, "so the actual voting population will be lower."
However, McAteer adds, "there’s no reason to think that Yakima and King County demographics won’t keep trending in the same way they have over recent years. So, these districts will only become more Latino and more [people of color], respectively, in the coming years, further strengthening the voice of immigrant communities and communities of color."
Overall, the district is 59.9 percent minority, of whom 52.32 percent are 18 or older.
There are two reasons that the 15th's Latino majority isn't likely to translate into a Latino voting majority.
First, the 54.5 percent figure includes all residents, including those who are not yet of voting age. Including only those Latino residents who are 18 and older, 46.91 percent of the district's residents are Latino, according to the immigrants' rights group OneAmerica.
Second, that estimate includes undocumented immigrants, many of them agricultural workers at the many farms that fill the Yakima Valley, and are not eligible to vote. According to OneAmerica spokesman Charlie McAteer, there are no reliable estimates of the number of undocumented residents in the area, "so the actual voting population will be lower."
However, McAteer adds, "there’s no reason to think that Yakima and King County demographics won’t keep trending in the same way they have over recent years. So, these districts will only become more Latino and more [people of color], respectively, in the coming years, further strengthening the voice of immigrant communities and communities of color."
Overall, the district is 59.9 percent minority, of whom 52.32 percent are 18 or older.
