It is the only part of Western Washington to not swing heavily to the Democrats during the 1990s, and it is one of the few districts in the area that cannot be considered safe for either party.

Additionally, most of the district is located in the Portland, Oregon, market; voting patterns there are somewhat different from those in the areas closer to Seattle.

The Washington State Redistricting Commission is charged with adjusting congressional and legislative district boundaries after each decennial census.

Despite this, Democratic challenger Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez bested Republican nominee Joe Kent by 2,629 votes in 2022.

[9] It was one of five districts that would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Democrat in 2022.

Trump won the district in 2024 by a slightly reduced margin of 3.28%, while Gluesenkamp Perez defeated Kent in a rematch by 3.88%, running 7 points ahead of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.