By Kevin Hanson

The Courier-Herald

Enumclaw resident Steve Hammond has announced his intention to run in the fall to retain his seat on the Metropolitan King County Council, but - following developments over the weekend - he could be looking at competition from within his Republican Party.

It all has to do with King County's shift from 13 council positions to just nine, a move mandated by county voters in the last general election.

Hammond now represents the 13th District on the council.

A county committee has drawn new boundary lines, cutting the county into nine pieces instead of 13, and Hammond finds himself residing in what will become the new 9th District. The 9th is a sprawling district stretching from Enumclaw in the south the southern edges of Bellevue and Issaquah. Along the way, it takes in Black Diamond, Maple Valley, Covington and the Fairwood community.

Over the weekend, King County Republicans gathered to decide who should replace Rob McKenna on the county council, now that McKenna has taken over as the state's new attorney general. The party chose three favorites, but placed Reagan Dunn - son of former Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn - at the head of the list.

It'll be up to the full Metropolitan King County Council to tab a replacement, but the party's preference usually gets the nod. The Democratically-controlled council has one month to make its choice to fill McKenna's current 6th District seat.

Things will get interesting if Dunn is chosen because, while in now lives in the 6th District, his home will sit in the 9th District once the boundary lines change in November. That means he and Hammond would be living in the same district and only one could remain in office.

That presents the possibility of a primary election battle between the two, although Dunn has not announced his intentions for the fall.

Kevin Hanson can be reached at khanson@courierherald.com.