Inslee's seat could be vacant longer than expected

From MakUpFront - the blog of political analyst Robert Mak on King5.com

"Replacing Jay Inslee in Congress may have just gotten more complicated. 

"Inslee is resigning his 1st Congressional seat effective March 20th to focus on his race for governor. Because Inslee waited until March to resign, state law dictates that his seat remain vacant until the general election on November 6th. More than a half-dozen candidates are competing to fill Inslee’s seat. 

"Originally, state elections officials thought the law was quite clear. There’s no question that a separate, special election is avoided. State officials originally assumed that because the seat is vacant, the winner of the November election would immediately go to Congress and represent the 1st district, instead of having to wait until the regular inauguration of January 3rd, 2013. 

But the U.S. Committee on House Administration raised a red flag. Every ten years, states go through a redistricting process based on population, and the boundaries of the new Washington 1st District are dramatically different—the district for example, loses Kitsap County, gains cities like Bellevue, and now goes up to the Canadian Border. Congressional administrators told state officials, the person elected in the new 1st, can’t be seated—even for a month—to the old 1st District that Inslee represented. 

"So now, the state has a couple options. First, it can simply hold the election in November and have the new 1st District representative take office in January. That means the seat will be vacant a month longer."

It gets more complicated from here. Read the rest of Robert Mak's article for the details, which include the possibility of electing a representative for a one-month term.

Shoreline and Lake Forest Park residents currently in the 7th congressional district, represented by Jim McDermott, would not be affected.