Republican Joe Kent took a 960-vote lead over Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in ballot returns on Monday, placing him in a likelier spot to advance to the general election for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
On Monday evening, Kent had 47,623 votes, or 22.79 percent of the 208,993 votes tallied to date. Herrera Beutler had 46,663 votes, or 22.33 percent of the total. Herrera Beutler led on election night, but Kent has steadily gained ground as more ballots were tallied. On Friday evening, Kent had nearly closed the margin between himself and the incumbent, leaving 257 votes between the two hopefuls for the position.
“We’re going to watch the vote count for one more day before making any declarative statements,” said Craig Wheeler, Herrera Beutler’s campaign manager.
Both Republican candidates are vying for the second position on the November ballot to face Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Skamania. She showed an early lead against the main players and currently has 30.97 percent of the vote. Perez is the most popular candidate in Clark, Pacific and Skamania counties.