Redistricting means more Plateau voters will choose District 5 legislators

Here’s who north Enumclaw/unincorporated King County and Black Diamond residents have to vote for this primary election.

By Conor Wilson • July 27, 2022 11:30 am
Legislative District 5 candidates on the ballot in the 2022 primaries. From upper left: Ken Moninski, Austin Bryant, incumbent Rep. Bill Ramos, Chad Magendanz, Landon Halverson, and incumbent Rep. Lisa Callan.
Legislative District 5 candidates on the ballot in the 2022 primaries. From upper left: Ken Moninski, Austin Bryant, incumbent Rep. Bill Ramos, Chad Magendanz, Landon Halverson, and incumbent Rep. Lisa Callan.

Election day is just around the corner, and if you live on the north Plateau, you may see some unfamiliar names on your ballot.

The Courier-Herald has already profiled candidates for District 31 in the state legislature and District 8 for U.S. Congress. We’re now wrapping up our pre-primary coverage with Washington’s 5th Legislative District.

This will be the first statewide election since legislative and congressional districts were redrawn last year alongside the release of the 2020 Census. The state redraws its political boundaries every decade to better reflect population growth and demographic changes. That means you might be voting in a new district than in previous elections.

Legislative District 5 already included the city of Black Diamond and parts of the Plateau as far south as Krain, but with the new maps, the district has shifted further southward. It now includes the area immediately south and west of Black Diamond, and more area northeast of Enumclaw. For more details, the commission has a GIS map you can use to look up your district. It is linked to this story online.

Until last year, the majority of the Snoqualmie Valley was in the 5th District, but the majority of North Bend and Carnation — alongside a portion of Fall City — have been moved into the 12th District. District 5 now terminates at Sammamish and Snoqualmie at its north-most boundary.

Despite controversy over the redistricting process — including the commission conducting negotiations in secret and failing to approve its maps by its required deadline — a settlement reached with the commission means the new maps are now in effect for the 2022 elections.

The races we’ve covered so far will feature in the Aug. 2 primary, with the top two candidates in each race moving on to a general election in November.

In the 5th District, incumbent Rep. Bill Ramos will face three challengers in this year’s August primary. Ramos, a Democrat and former Issaquah City Councilmember, has served the 5th District since 2019.

Ramos was last reelected in 2020, winning 60% of the vote over Republican Ken Moninski. Moninski has filed again in this year’s election. Moninski is a Maple Valley resident and owner of Global Aircraft Services, according to his campaign website.

Ramos will also face challenges from Republican Landon Halverson, a recent college graduate and Issaquah resident, and Austin Bryant, another Issaquah resident who lists his party affiliation as “Elven Way Party.”

In the other 5th District race, incumbent Rep. Lisa Callan will face Republican Chad Magendanz. Callan, a Democrat and former Issaquah School Board member, ran unopposed in last year’s election and has been serving the 5th District since 2019.

Magendanz is currently a teacher in the Bellevue School District, according to his Linkedin profile, and formerly served as a 5th District representative between 2013 and 2017. He ran for state Senate in 2016, narrowly losing to current 5th District Senator Mark Mullet, a Democrat.

Reporter Alex Bruell contributed to this article.