Spokane County redistricting panel’s two proposed commissioner maps would have very different political outcomes

Two compromise proposals for the new Spokane County commissioner districts suggest very different boundaries and political makeups, based on a computer analysis of the proposals and the average precinct voting margins of six key races in 2020.

Compromise C, proposed by panel Democrats, would create two strong Republican districts – one in the northeast part of Spokane County and the other in the southeast. It would create a somewhat more moderate Democratic district in the precincts in or near southeast Spokane city limits, a district that leaned slightly Democratic in the 2020 in and around the northwest precincts of the city and one district in the southwest county and West Plains that was a toss-up in 2020.

Compromise D, proposed by redistricting panel Republicans, would create two strong GOP districts in east Spokane County and the city of Spokane Valley, one moderate Republican district in the southwest county and the West Plains, a strong Democratic district in the south and northwest city of Spokane, and one district that leaned Republican in the northeast city of Spokane and nearby suburbs.