Washington's 3rd congressional district

History

Established after the 1900 census, the 3rd district was represented by Democrats for most of the latter half of the 20th century, until Jolene Unsoeld was defeated by Republican Linda Smith as part of the Republican Revolution of 1994. Smith retired after two terms and was succeeded by Democrat Brian Baird. Baird announced he wouldn't run for re-election in 2010, with Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler winning the seat, during the general election, against Democratic state representative Denny Heck, who was subsequently elected in Washington's 10th congressional district. Herrera Beutler retained her seat over Democrat Jon T. Haugen in 2012. In 2014, she beat Democratic nominee Bob Dingethal.

In presidential elections, the 3rd district is rather competitive. It is the only part of Western Washington to not swing heavily to the Democrats during the 1990s, and it is one of the few districts in the area that cannot be considered safe for either party. It is home to Lewis County, the most conservative county in western Washington. Additionally, most of the district is located in the Portland, Oregon, market; voting patterns there are somewhat different from those in the areas closer to Seattle. George W. Bush narrowly carried the district in 2000 with 48% of the vote and again in 2004 with 50%. The district swung Democratic in 2008, giving Barack Obama 52% of the vote and 46% to John McCain. However, redistricting (see below) extended the district further east and made it slightly more Republican than its predecessor; had the current boundaries been in effect for the 2008 election, Obama would have only defeated McCain by 50.9 percent to 47.1 percent. In 2012, it gave Mitt Romney 49.6% to Obama's 47.9%. In the 2016 presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump won the district 49.9% to Hillary Clinton's 42.5%. Trump won every county entirely within the district except Clark County, which he lost by only 316 votes out of over two hundred thousand, including carrying three counties (Pacific, Wahkiakum and Cowlitz) that voted for Walter Mondale in 1984. In 2020, Trump won the district 50.6% to Joe Biden's 46.9%, however, the incumbent Republican Congresswoman, Jaime Herrera Beutler, over-performed the incumbent President, winning the district by a margin of 13%.

2010 redistricting

The Washington State Redistricting Commission is charged with adjusting congressional and legislative district boundaries after each decennial census. Given Washington State's growth over the prior decade, Washington gained an additional congressional district for the 113th congress. The third district needed to lose 106,894 people in the redistricting process in order to meet the new ideal population of 672,454. On September 13, 2011, the four voting commissioners on the Redistricting Commission submitted draft proposals for the congressional map. All four draft proposals left the entirety of Lewis, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, and Clark Counties, and all or most of Skamania county in the 3rd district. In addition, each proposal added population from one or more of Pacific, Thurston, Pierce, or Klickitat counties.

The final approved map for the 3rd district included the entirety of Klickitat, Skamania, Clark, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, and Lewis counties, with the extreme southern part of Thurston County south of highway 12, Washington State Route 507, and the Vail Cut Off Road.

2020 redistricting

Following the 2020 census, the 3rd district was slightly changed during redistricting, losing Klickitat county to the 4th district and gaining an additional small sliver of Thurston county from the 10th district. The new 3rd district was marginally more favorable for Republicans, voting for Trump in 2020 by a margin of 4.2%, as opposed to the old district's 3.7%. Despite this, Democratic challenger Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez bested Republican nominee Joe Kent by 2,629 votes in 2022. It was one of five districts that would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Democrat in 2022.

Trump won the district in 2024 by a slightly reduced margin of 3.28%, while Gluesenkamp Perez defeated Kent in a rematch by 3.88%, running 7 points ahead of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:

Clark County (27)

: All 27 communities Cowlitz County (10) : All 10 communities Lewis County (13) : All 13 communities Pacific County (11) : All 11 communities

Skamania County (3)

: All 3 communities

Thurston County (5)

: Bucoda, Grand Mound, Rainier, Rochester, Tenino

Wahkiakum County (10)

: All 10 communities

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

References

;Specific

;General

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present Their final version was approved and sent to the legislature on January 1, 2012.

References

1. "My Congressional District". United States Census Bureau.
2. "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)".
3. (14 December 2024). "Trump's victory sets up fight for the House on his turf in 2026". [[NBC News]].
4. "2010 Congressional Malapportionment Report". Washington State Redistricting Commission.
5. Ceis, Tim. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Ceis - September 13, 2011". Washington State Redistricting Commission.
6. Gorton, Slade. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Gorton - September 13, 2011". Washington State Redistricting Commission.
7. Foster, Dean. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Foster - September 13, 2011". Washington State Redistricting Commission.
8. Huff, Tom. "Draft Congressional Plan #1 - Commissioner Huff - September 13, 2011". Washington State Redistricting Commission.
9. "Congressional District 3". Washington Redistricting Commission.
10. "November 8, 2022 General Election Results".
11. "DRA 2020".
12. "2022Gen Results by Congressional District".
13. "2024Gen Results by Congressional District".
14. [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST53/CD118_WA01.pdf https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST53/CD118_WA03.pdf]
15. "Election Search Results - November 1912 General".
16. "Election Search Results - November 1914 General".
17. Karni, Annie. (November 8, 2024). "A Red-District Conqueror Wants Fellow Democrats to Look in the Mirror".
18. "November 02, 2010 General Election". State of Washington.
19. "November 06, 2012 General Election". State of Washington.
20. "November 4, 2014 General Election". State of Washington.
21. "November 8, 2016 General Election". Washington Secretary of State.
22. "November 6, 2018 General Election Results". State of Washington.
23. "Official Canvass of the Returns". [[Secretary of State of Washington]].
24. "Official Canvass of the Returns". [[Secretary of State of Washington]].
25. "Official Canvass of the Returns". [[Secretary of State of Washington]].