The 2022 WA State Legislature has already been determined by the Democrat majority that it will be held virtually. This is distressing as it allows them to take actions to ignore Republican or constituent input that they would not be able to do in-person, such as they did last year by muting or ignoring raised hands on zoom. This poor leadership can be overcome by electing more good Republicans. We are fortunate to have Senator Curtis King, Representative Gina Mosbrucker, and Representative Chris Corry fighting for us. The Washington State Republican Party is working hard to take back seats in Legislative Districts that are blue. We must take the majority in the State Legislature to stop the onslaught of bad bills.
Correspondence from US Representative Jaime Herrera-Beutler
After leaving many phone messages over 7 months that escalated in frustration, I finally have been receiving updates from Rep. Herrera-Beutler's administrative assistant. I am happy to share any updates received from D.C. The following are her responses and letters regarding Afghanistan and vaccination mandates.
Board of County Commissioners
As a result of people showing up and speaking out throughout the county, the school board meetings, and the County Commissioner public comment time, our County Commissioners have reached out to the Governor to express frustration over mandates. Many individuals have communicated with our State; it is good to finally have our elected officials doing the same!
Redistricting - Action You Can Take to Protect our Future Elections
Submitted on behalf of Ruth Peterson, Lewis County State Committeewoman and assistant to Senator John Braun (R)
People are frustrated and angry right now, and we should be. We all feel like we’ve lost any control over our lives because of the actions of our current government. Our government believes it knows best about how we live our lives – where we can go, what we wear, and what medical decisions we can make. These decisions are all being made by an overwhelmingly Democrat-controlled government.
Do you want to make a difference? Do you want to do something about it? Here is something that you can do from the comfort of your own home that will make a tremendous difference to your future. You can have a say in redistricting.
Bear with me for a moment, because most people find this subject incredibly boring. But if you are at all frustrated with where we are right now, you need to read this. Redistricting happens every 10 years, right after the census. That is when the state’s boundaries for voting will change. Do you vote in the 20th District right now? Maybe you will change to the 19thor the 18th. The maps will change for every single district, and you can have a say in it.
We have a commission in this state that makes the redistricting decisions. There are two Republicans and two Democrats. They have to come to an agreement, so there will be give and take. They have just completed the first draft of the maps. There are four maps – one for each commissioner. You can look at each map here to see what your district will look like depending on which map is used (the end result will likely be a little different from any, because of the compromises they will make):
You can look at the maps individually, but the important data is in the table below. The maps can be drawn to make a district more solidly Republican, more solidly Democrat, or more competitive. The chart below will show you how the four different maps end up changing our Legislature. In each column (representing a single map proposal), you will see red districts (with the district number to the left of the column), blue districts, and then the green ones. The green ones are considered “competitive” because they have a more equal number of Republican and Democrat voters.
Believe me, you don’t want two of these maps – the two columns that create more solidly blue districts than we already have. Only two will really benefit us at all – the ones from Commissioners Graves and Fain. You will see from the chart that currently, we have only six districts in the state that are competitive – that means they have a chance of electing either a Republican or a Democrat, depending on who is running. With the new maps, the Democrat maps add more solid Democrat districts and reduce the number of competitive ones. This is a sure loser for us. If we have any hope of changing the direction of the state, we need to influence those maps to be as close to Commissioner Graves’ version as possible. You can help, and all you need is to click a few buttons and write a note. I’ll provide link below with an idea of how to message this to the Commission.
To provide comment, go to the following link -https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/submit-public-testimony
You can submit either a written document or a video. The message you need to write is simple:
Our elections must be kept competitive, if we are going to have an effective government. Our population is diverse and all should have a chance to voice their opinions in elections. We need more districts that are competitive – not fewer.
But when you write your statement, try to make it your own words. Sending 1000 emails that are individual is far more effective than sending 1000 copy-and-paste emails. However, if you only have time to do just that, it's certainly better than nothing. You only need to write a few sentences. You can name your preferred map, if you like, but use the word “competitive” somewhere in your statement. You know that activist organizations are already gearing up their people to choose the Sims map. We need to combat that effort if we want to win future elections.
Elections are all about the numbers. You can complain about how things are and be angry and frustrated. I can relate. I am too. But we have an opportunity to do something more here. Something that makes a difference. Please take action and click on that link today. We must also spread the word! We need thousands of comments to make a difference, so please forward this message to as many people as you can. This is a serious call to action.