Nothing says “protecting Hispanic voters” like slicing up their district to get rid of the one Hispanic they actually elected.

Democrats Redraw the Lines—But Only for the “Right Kind” of Minorities

In a blistering Wall Street Journal op-ed, Washington State Sen. Nikki Torres exposes how Democrats have twisted racial gerrymandering into a partisan weapon. After a bipartisan redistricting commission created a majority-Hispanic district that leaned Republican, Democrats sued—claiming it violated the Voting Rights Act. A Democrat-appointed judge sided with them and approved new maps that reduced the Hispanic population in the district, flipping it to favor Democrats.

The kicker? Torres herself—the first Latina senator ever elected from Eastern Washington—was drawn out of her own district. Her apparent crime? Being the wrong kind of Hispanic: a Republican. Torres writes that Democrats didn’t use race to empower Latino voters, but to entrench their own power. Her call to the Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais is clear—end the unconstitutional race-based redistricting that Democrats use to silence the very voices they claim to defend. Read more at the Wall Street Journal.

One Democrat Discovers Actions Have Consequences

In a rare moment of Democratic self-awareness, Rep. Lauren Davis (D–Shoreline) confessed in a Seattle Times op-ed that she’s racked with “regret and guilt” over voting for the very laws that unleashed Washington’s juvenile crime wave. Davis now says she spent years rubber-stamping bills she didn’t understand, too afraid to challenge her own party while crime and chaos exploded in her district.

She admits the “majority party’s” public safety agenda — from gutting accountability to muzzling schools’ ability to refer kids for addiction treatment — helped fuel a surge in violence. In Lynnwood alone, juvenile arrests have nearly tripled. Davis says she’s “culpable” after sitting with grieving parents whose children were murdered by other teens.

House Speaker Laurie Jinkins (D–Tacoma) responded with the usual political deflection: lots of “diverse perspectives,” no responsibility. Translation — Democrats broke it, and they’ll hold a hearing or two before breaking it again.

Davis now opposes bills that would make things even worse, like one letting teens who commit triple homicide walk free in six years. But don’t expect much reform — she admits she doesn’t have the votes to undo her party’s mess. Turns out, remorse doesn’t pass legislation. Read more at Center Square.

When in Doubt, Delete the Data

Washington State’s top education official, Superintendent Chris Reykdal, has apparently decided that if you can’t raise student performance, you can always erase the evidence. As the Washington Policy Center reports, Reykdal’s office quietly deleted a webpage showing state education goals just after watchdogs requested updated data. The move came as Washington students continue to fall behind — despite taxpayers footing record-breaking education budgets.

Under Reykdal’s watch, the state now ranks 27th in math and 18th in reading, down from 10th and 14th a decade ago. Even Mississippi — once dead last — is now outperforming Washington. Yet, instead of transparency, OSPI pulled its 2027 achievement targets off the site, leaving only raw test scores: just 70.9% proficient in English and 63.3% in math, far below the previous 90% goal.

Parents and lawmakers are right to be furious. Washington now spends more than nearly every other state on education — third nationally in teacher pay — but gets worse results every year. So rather than fix the problem, Reykdal’s office just hit delete. Classic Democratic accountability: when the numbers don’t fit the narrative, make the numbers disappear. Read more at Seattle Red.

Adam Smith Calls America “Extreme” — Proves Irony Isn’t Dead

In a bizarre performance on Seattle’s Morning News, Congressman Adam Smith (D–Bellevue) decided that the United States — yes, the land of free elections, open press, and constitutional checks and balances — is “the most partisan, extreme government in the world.” The remark, aimed at Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump over the shutdown, was so over the top it would make the DNC’s comms team blush.

Smith, a senior Democrat and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, accused Trump of “governing like a dictator,” apparently forgetting which administration has spent years weaponizing the DOJ to crush its political opponents. He denounced “partisan misuse of federal agencies” — just not the kind that targets conservatives.

The claim that America ranks among the world’s “most extreme governments” would be laughable if it weren’t so irresponsible. It’s the kind of rhetoric that erodes trust, fuels polarization, and hands talking points to America’s real adversaries — the actual dictatorships Democrats seem oddly reluctant to criticize.

Smith’s hysterical framing of budget negotiations as an “authoritarian takeover” is peak Washington Democrat: when they lose a policy argument, they simply declare democracy under siege. It’s melodrama masquerading as moral courage — and it’s doing more damage than any budget bill ever could. Read more at Seattle Red.

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