Perez secures general election spot in 3rd District; Herrera Beutler maintains lead over Kent

As more ballots trickle in, it looks like candidates’ positions in the race to represent Washington’s 3rd Congressional District are remaining steady.

The Washington Secretary of State reported that Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Skamania County is still leading the race with 31.96 percent of the vote out of 133,669 votes cast. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, remains behind her challenger with 23.75 percent.

The Associated Press has declared that Perez will advance to the November general election. The second position in the top-two primary remains undetermined, though Herrera Beutler had a 3,930-vote lead over Republican Joe Kent of Yacolt as of Wednesday’s ballot tally.

Voter support for other Republican challengers continues to inch upward. Votes for Kent rose slightly to 20.81 percent and votes for Heidi St. John of Battle Ground rose to 15.22 percent of the vote. State Rep. Vicki Kraft of Vancouver received 3.12 percent of the vote.

In Clark County, Perez still has an even more significant lead, with 45.76 percent of the vote to Herrera Beutler’s 27.61 percent and Kent’s 21.25 percent. Perez has been the top vote-getter in Clark, Pacific and Skamania counties. Herrera Beutler was the top vote-getter in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties, and Kent was the top vote-getter in Lewis and Thurston counties.

Wednesday afternoon’s round of updates showed no change to any other races or ballot measures in Tuesday night’s primary and special election.

Voter turnout rose to 25.09 percent, an increase of just over 4 percentage points from Tuesday night. A total of 81,587 votes have been counted thus far, with an estimated 61,500 left to be counted.

The next round of ballots is expected at 5 p.m. Thursday evening.

Griffin Reilly contributed to this report.