The United States Supreme Court on October 5, 2026, vacated a federal appellate judgment upholding Washington State's court-ordered legislative district map, returning the contentious Yakima Valley redistricting dispute to the Ninth Circuit for fresh judicial review.
Conservative intervenors argued that the trial court engaged in an unconstitutional racial gerrymander by deliberately packing and sorting voters by ethnic heritage.
The Court-Drawn Map B and Republican Intervenor Appeals After Judge Lasnik struck down Legislative District 15, he offered the Washington State Legislature an opportunity to convene a special session to redraw the map.
Milligan by upholding Section 2 protections in an Alabama congressional case, reaffirming that state legislatures must draw majority-minority districts where racially polarized voting dilutes minority influence.
State Senator Nikki Torres, a Republican who won election under the commission's 2021 map, found her residential address carved out of District 15 and placed into District 16 under Map B.
The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a federal appeals court decision upholding Washington State's court-ordered legislative redistricting map, remanding the Yakima Valley dispute under Louisiana v. Callais.