Members of the Washington State Redistricting Commission approved a plan to reconfigure the nine existing congressional districts in order to squeeze in a 10th District for Washington State.

But that plan will have a huge impact on Kirkland voters and their representation in Washington D.C. over the next decade.

The 2010 federal Census gave Washington State a 10th congressional district, which will be primarily located around Olympia and Puyallup.

But the new congressional map shifts with whom Kirklanders share their elected representative from the First District.

Under the old congressional districts, Kirkland residents also voted in the First District, but with more liberal and densely populated areas to the west, such as Lynnwood, Edmonds and major areas of Kitsap County, like Bainbridge Island.

But while the new map keeps Kirkland in the First District, whom Kirklanders vote with will change significantly.

The new First District goes north through less populated and traditionally more conservative areas and will include Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties, all the way up to the Canadian border.

The new district does not cross west over the I-5 corridor.

Current First District Congressman Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) has announced that he will run for Washington State Governor in 2012 against Attorney General Rob McKenna, making for an immediate impact on the First District seat.

The commission was comprised of four members, two republicans and two democrats, including former Washington State Sen. Slade Gorton, former Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, Dean Foster, a former chief of staff to Gov. Booth Gardner, and former Washington State Rep. Tom Huff.

The commission met for months and it came down to the wire Saturday night for an agreement at 10:35 p.m. The commission had to come to a consensus prior to 11:59 p.m. on Saturday.

If the commission was not able to agree on the new districts, the issue would have gone to the Washington State Supreme Court.