BELLEVUE — Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) Chairman Caleb Heimlich issued the following response to the draft Congressional District maps that were released today by the Redistricting Commission:

“Electoral competition is a vital element in the spirit and the laws governing our state’s redistricting process. I am proud that our Republican Commissioners have taken healthy competition into account when releasing their draft maps. Competitive districts give voters more choices, make candidates work harder, and are better for the people of Washington State. Unfortunately, the Democrat-appointed Commissioners released maps that are the least competitive maps in Washington State history – completely undermining our state’s redistricting laws and attempting to guarantee a 7D-3R split for the next decade. Washington has one of the most bipartisan redistricting systems in the country and Democrats are making a mockery of it. The Democrats are not making good faith efforts at redistricting, they are engaging in a hyper-partisan illegal gerrymandering effort to rig elections for perpetual majorities.”