SEATTLE — As the nation elected a political outsider to the presidency, Washington voters stuck with the power structure they knew, easily re-electing Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and seeming to maintain the current balance of power in the Legislature.
Inslee and lawmakers next year are tasked with solving a problem that has vexed them for years: complying with a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that found the state was not meeting its constitutional obligations on K-12 education.
The state Supreme Court ruled last month that the state has until Sept. 1, 2018, to fully fund education. But that the details of how to do that — as well as how lawmakers will pay for it — must be in place before the Legislature adjourns next year.
All 98 seats in the House were up for election Tuesday, and 26 of the Senate’s 49 seats were also being decided by voters.
In the Senate, Republicans — along with a Democrat who caucuses with them — currently hold a 26-23 advantage, though current returns show them losing one seat, which would drop them down to a one-seat advantage. Democrats currently hold a 50-48 advantage in the House, but returns showed them possibly picking up an additional two seats.
House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, a Democrat from Covington, noted that a bipartisan task force has already been working to address the issue, and that lawmakers were on a path to figure out the education funding issue regardless of how the legislative elections shook out.
“The breakdown is pretty much the same, and the issue is the same,” he said.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray was re-elected to a fifth term Tuesday over Republican challenger Chris Vance, becoming one of the longest-serving senators in Washington history.
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, and it had been represented by McDermott since 1988.
Washington’s nine other U.S. House members all won re-election.
Of the nine statewide offices on the ballot, five had 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, who is trying to hold onto the office that Republicans have held in the state for the last 52 years, was leading in early returns.
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. Davidson prevailed in the final race.
Democratic Sen. Cyrus Habib beat 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 beat 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 prevailed over 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.
Three of the state Supreme Court’s nine justices also faced re-election challenges. Chief Justice Barbara Madsen faced Kittitas County Prosecutor Greg Zempel, Justice Charlie Wiggins faced Federal Way Municipal Judge Dave Larson, and Justice Mary Yu faced Gonzaga University law professor David DeWolf. All three incumbents won re-election.
There were 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.
A majority of Washington voters also voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who lost the national election to Republican Donald Trump.
