The Great Re-Sorting: How Washington Politics got this way
By H. Stuart Elway
The legislature opens its 2026 session with the Democrats firmly in control of state government. Democrats have a 59-39 majority in the House of Representatives and a 30-19 majority in the Senate and won all of state executive offices with an average margin of victory of 57 to 44%.
Washington’s march from Independent swing state to solidly Democratic is well known. We have not voted for a Republican for President of Governor since the mid-80s. Less frequently discussed is the sorting that has driven this growing Democratic majority.
Of the state’s 49 legislative districts, 28 are now represented by entirely by Democrats (two Representatives and one Senator); 18 entirely by Republicans; and only 3 have at least one member from each party. A generation ago, the 2000 legislature was balanced with 18 all blue, 16 all red, and 15 purple districts. Control of the state legislature was divided in 13 of the 25 years between 1992 and 2017 but Democrats have controlled both houses since 2018. Party identification, as measured by The Elway Poll, went from an average of D+1 over the 1990s to an average of D+21 in 2025.
The old “Cascade Curtain” that once described Washington politics (Democratic Western Washington vs. Republican Eastern Washington), has been replaced with an urban-rural divide that mirrors national political trends. What happened?
https://www.postalley.org/2026/01/09/the-great-re-sorting-how-washington-politics-got-this-way/