OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun issued the following statement after the Washington State Supreme Court announced that it will accept the plan approved by the Washington State Redistricting Commission that redraws our state’s 49 legislative districts.

“While the plan developed by the Redistricting Commission does not reflect exactly how we would like the legislative districts to look, it is a compromise that was reached through a transparent, democratic process. The Supreme Court made the right decision to accept the plan as-is. Had the Court decided to start from scratch, the process would not have been transparent – the public would not have been involved. The huge amount of public participation likely would have been wasted and we might not have had a plan for months.

“During the redistricting process, our goal was to fulfill the statutory requirement that the districts be competitive so that future election results were not predetermined. The people deserve to have the ability to make changes when their elected leaders’ decisions don’t reflect their priorities. The plan approved by the Supreme Court today is the closest we could get to that goal.

“It’s important to point out the Commission created a 73-percent Hispanic district in central Washington which greatly exceeds the requirements the federal Voting Rights Act.

“Despite the hiccups at the end of the process, I still believe that Washington has the one of the best redistricting processes in the entire country. I hope the citizens of the state of Washington will be well-served by these new political boundaries.

“Finally, I would like to thank Commissioner Joe Fain, Chair Sarah Augustine, her staff and all the citizens of the state of Washington who took time to participate in this important process.”