The political divides across Capitol Hill and the Central District are as strong as ever. The precinct by precinct results from the December 7th District 3 recall vote once again reveal strong divisions between the area’s most densely populated and least wealthy areas and its richest, single family zoning dominated neighborhoods.

CHS examined the precinct results from November’s general election heading into the recall vote here, pondering whether the E Republican line would again hold in December.

It did with those voting against the recall of Kshama Sawant dominating precincts to the south while “yes” votes dominated in the north.

But another important line of demarcation was also made clear in December’s results.

The line running north-south along 31st Ave — the Madrona line? — is also a distinct border zone between the district’s more progressive and more conservative voters nearer to the shores of Lake Washington.

CHS examined here Sawant’s successful defense of her seat on the council and what it will mean as she completes her term through 2023, and considers yet another run to lead District 3. Twice now, business community-backed candidates have been defeated by strong support for Sawant in the most densely populated areas of Capitol Hill and the Central District.

Thanks to Jason Weill for creating the December 2021 Tableau visualizations and making them available for all to publish and learn from.

Those same areas, as you can see in the maps, came out strong again — this time to vote against a recall.

For a look at the extremes, you can find some of the “No” strongholds below where the percentage of voters rejecting the recall reached as high as 85% in First Hill’s 3573.

UPDATE: We’ve repaired the conditional formatting to match the color coding used in the maps — more red equates with stronger “No” percentage, more blue with stronger “Yes.”

Broadmoor’s 1992, meanwhile, represented the other end of the spectrum as the area’s most “Yes” precinct. A whopping 97% of voters there supported the recall. And, yes, there are 15 voters registered within the gates of Broadmoor who voted against the Socialist Alternative leader’s removal.

The district’s demographics, meanwhile, are shifting even younger as new apartment buildings rise around the Broadway, Pike/Pine, and 23rd Ave cores. But there are also moderating impacts from the changing population in District 3. Like the rest of the city, it is becoming wealthier.

As The Urbanist noted in its look at the recall voting patterns, D3 showed yet another divide. Turnout in the recall, the measure of how many people voted in comparison to how many are registered in each precinct, varied, as usual, by demographics with the wealthiest precincts turning out the highest percentages of voter participation.

Below, you can see the precincts with the highest percentage turnout on the left, and the precincts with the lowest turnout on the right.

Here’s another ranking showing the results across the district’s 20 largest precincts, left, and lowest population precincts, right.

If nothing else, those numbers speak to the wisdom of efforts like the Kshama Solidarity campaign in focusing on strategies and gimmicks to boost participation — and portend some major challenges if the wealth gap continues to widen in the district.

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