OLYMPIA — Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee defeated Republican challenger Bill Bryant, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray was re-elected to a fifth term Tuesday.
With Inslee’s re-election, Democrats continue a winning streak in the governor’s office that started in 1984.
“Washington was, is and will always be a beacon for progressive values,” Inslee told supporters gathered in Seattle. “Washington voted tonight to stay on the path of progress.”
Bryant spokesman Jason Roe said that he believed a lot of the votes that are still arriving at county elections offices will break Bryant’s way. Washington is a vote-by-mail state, and of the more than 4.2 million ballots sent to voters, just 2 million were counted as of Tuesday night.
“We’re going to wait until the votes are counted,” he said, saying he believed they would close that gap that stood at near 13 points as of Tuesday night. “We don’t know if we’re going to close it enough. We just want to wait and see.”
Of the nine statewide offices on the ballot, five have open seats: lieutenant governor, auditor, lands commissioner, treasurer and superintendent of public instruction.
In races where incumbents are seeking re-election, the secretary of state’s race has been a competitive contest between incumbent Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman and her Democratic opponent, Tina Podlodowski, a former Microsoft manager who previously served on the Seattle City Council. Wyman, the lone statewide elected Republican not only in Washington but the entire West Coast, was leading in early returns. Republicans have held the office in the state for the past 52 years.
In the race for state treasurer, two Republicans faced off on the general ballot, the first time two candidates from the same party — Michael Waite and Duane Davidson — had competed in a statewide race since Washington launched the top-two primary system in 2008. Both Waite and Davidson garnered the highest votes in the August primary, advancing past three Democrats. Same-party opponents have emerged in legislative and congressional races but never in a statewide contest. Davidson was leading Tuesday night.
Democratic Sen. Cyrus Habib was leading Republican challenger Marty McClendon in the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Pat McCarthy was leading Republican Sen. Mark Miloscia in the race for state auditor, and Democrat Hilary Franz was leading Republican Steve McLaughlin in the Commissioner of Public Lands race.
Incumbent Attorney General Bob Ferguson beat his Libertarian challenger, Joshua Trumbull, and Democratic incumbent Insurance Commissioner Mike Kriedler was beating his Republican challenger, Richard Schrock. In the nonpartisan Superintendent of Public Instruction race, it was a tight contest between Erin Jones and Chris Reykdal, with Reykdal taking a slim lead in early returns.
House and Senate seats
All 98 seats in the House were up for election Tuesday, and 26 of the Senate’s 49 seats were being decided by voters.
In the Senate, Republicans — along with a Democrat who caucuses with them — hold a 26-23 advantage. A few close races in that chamber give Democrats hope they can regain a slim majority, but early returns only showed Democrats leading in one of the contested seats.
Democrats currently hold a 50-48 advantage in the House. If Democrats had lost just one seat, they’d be forced to share power with Republicans, something that last happened from 1999 to 2001. If Republicans had picked up more than one seat, they would take outright control for the first time since 1998. But Democrats looked to be leading in several races that would keep them in the majority.
All 10 of the state’s U.S. House seats were also on the ballot. In Washington’s liberal 7th Congressional District, Pramila Jayapal beat Brady Walkinshaw in the contest to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott. Both Jayapal and Walkinshaw are state lawmakers and Democrats. The 7th District includes most of Seattle.
Incumbents were re-elected in the rest of the congressional races in the state, where Democrats hold six of the seats and Republicans hold four. The state’s congressional races aren’t expected to affect the balance of power in Congress.
Three of the state Supreme Court’s nine justices also face re-election challenges. Chief Justice Barbara Madsen faces Kittitas County Prosecutor Greg Zempel, Justice Charlie Wiggins faces Federal Way Municipal Judge Dave Larson, and Justice Mary Yu faces Gonzaga University law professor David DeWolf. All three incumbents were leading in early returns.
There are also six initiatives on the ballot, including measures related to increasing the statewide minimum wage, campaign finance reform and a carbon tax. The minimum wage measure passed, but the carbon tax measure was defeated and the campaign finance reform measure was losing in early returns. A separate ballot measure in Olympia that would create a personal income tax on the city’s highest earners was losing in early results Tuesday night.
