From: Tom McBride Subject: Date: November 9, 2016 While many ballots remain to be counted, it appears the Republican led Majority Coalition Caucus will continue to control the Washington State Senate by a count of 25-24 after losing 1 seat. Democrats will retain control of the State House after picking up what looks like 2 seats as ballots continue to be counted. Ballots in Washington State were required to be submitted or postmarked by 8:00 pm on election day. Because Washington is an all vote-by-mail state, it could take many days (or weeks) to know the outcome of the closest elections. As of 8:22 am today, there are an estimated 743,967 ballots on hand that still need to be processed and over two million ballots that have been counted. Washington State had an estimated 48% voter turnout in this election. Below are highlights of the general election results in Washington State. Please keep in mind that outcomes in close races could still change. Presidential Election On election night, the Associated Press declared Democrat Hilary Clinton as the winner in Washington. As of this morning, with over two million votes counted, Clinton had 56.3% of the votes versus 37.78% for Republican Donald Trump. US Senate Incumbent US Senator Patty Murray (D), who is running for her fifth term, faced former State Representative and former Chair of the Washington State Republican Party Chris Vance. Murray had strong returns receiving 60.79% of the votes cast. US Representatives All ten congressional seats were up for election this year and all were contested. With the retirement of Congressman Jim McDermott, the race in the 7 th Congressional District was very competitive. Washington is a top two primary state with two Democrats advancing to the general election. Two current Washington State legislators, Senator Pramila Jayapal (D) and Representative Brady Walkinshaw (D), ran against each other in the general for this seat. At this time, early results are showing that Jayapal has a strong lead over Walkinshaw with 57.16% of the votes counted in this race. All of the nine incumbents making up Washington s Congressional delegation were breezing toward victory.
Statewide Offices Governor Incumbent Governor Jay Inslee (D) easily outpaced Republican challenger and former Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant. Inslee has received over 56% of the votes. Lieutenant Governor Senator Cyrus Habib (D) faced Republican radio talk show host Marty McClendon in the general. Habib has a comfortable lead with nearly 56% of the votes cast. Secretary of State Incumbent Kim Wyman (R) is the only Republican to hold a statewide office in Washington State. She is outpacing Democrat Tina Podlodowski in the general election. Wyman has over 53% of the votes counted. State Commissioner of Public Lands State Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark (D) is not seeking re-election. Futurewise Executive Director Democrat Hilary Franz faced retired US Navy Commander Republican Steve McLaughlin on the ballot. Franz is leading McLaughlin with nearly 55% of the votes counted. State Treasurer Also retiring is State Treasurer James McIntire (D). Five candidates in the top two primary were narrowed down to two Republicans, finance professional Michael Waite and Benton County Treasurer Duane Davidson. At this time, Davidson is leading in this race with over 58% of the votes counted. Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn (D) chose not to seek re-election. Early results are showing 22 nd Legislative District Democrat State Representative Chris Reykdal with just 51.1% of the votes counted while Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction and former teacher Erin Jones has 48.9%. State Auditor Incumbent Troy Kelley (D), who was the target of a federal investigation over the past year, chose not to seek re-election. Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy (D) has received over 54% of the votes counted in a race against 30 th Legislative District Senator Mark Miloscia (R) who has received nearly 46% of the votes. Insurance Commissioner Incumbent Democrat Mike Kreidler has received over 60% of the votes counted. Kreidler faced Republican Richard Schrock. Attorney General Incumbent Democrat Bob Ferguson has a strong showing of over 69% of the votes counted over Libertarian Joshua Trumbull. State Supreme Court There are nine incumbents on the State Supreme Court and three of them were up for election this year to serve a six-year term. All three incumbents up for re-election had challengers. Early general election results are showing that all incumbents will be retained. Justice Mary Yu has Page 2 of 5
over 58% of the votes counted, Justice Barbara Madsen has received over 63% of the votes counted and Justice Charlie Wiggins has over 58% of the votes counted. Legislative Race Highlights 26 of 49 Senate seats were up for election this year as well as all 98 House seats. Going into the election, Democrats controlled the House by a count of 50-48 and the Senate was led 26-23 by a Republican-controlled Majority Coalition Caucus (MCC). The MCC is comprised of 25 Republicans and 1 Democrat. Senate The early results are showing that Democrats gained a seat with what is looking like a loss for incumbent Republican Senator Steve Litzow in the 41 st District to Democrat challenger Lisa Wellman. But the Republican led MCC appears to retain control by the slim margin of 25-24 with many ballots left to be counted. House Of the 98 seats on the ballot, it appears House Democrats will pick up 2 seats. Early results are indicating 46 Republicans and 52 Democrats, but several of these races are very close at this time and could change as more late arriving ballots are counted. Below are highlights of some noteworthy legislative races. 1 st Legislative District With the retirement of Senator Rosemary McAuliffe (D), early general election results for the Senate seat are showing Democrat Guy Palumbo ahead of Republican Mindie Wirth. Palumbo currently has a strong showing with nearly 60% of the votes counted. In position 2, Republican Jim Langston is trailing behind Democrat Shelley Kloba who has 57.94% of the votes counted in this race. 5 th Legislative District Representative Chad Magendanz (R) challenged incumbent Senator Mark Mullet (D) for the 5 th District Senate seat. Current results have Mullet leading with 53.38% of the votes counted. In the House both positions 1 and 2 in this district are very close. For position 1, Republican incumbent Jay Rodne is trailing behind his Democrat challenger Jason Ritchie. Less than 400 votes separate them with Rodne receiving 49.54% and Ritchie receiving 50.46% of the votes counted. Republican Paul Graves and Democrat Darcy Burner are battling for the open position 2 seat. Currently, Graves is leading with 50.3% of the votes counted versus 49.7% for Burner. 6 th Legislative District With Representative Kevin Parker (R) choosing not to run for re-election, early results are trending toward Republican Mike Volz over Democrat Lynette Vehrs with 53.73% of the votes counted. 10 th Legislative District After incumbent Senator Barbara Bailey (R) had a closer-than-expected race against her p primary challengers, she has received 54.89% of the votes counted in the general election results. Her challenger Democrat Angie Homola has 45.11%. Page 3 of 5
12 th Legislative District Representative Brad Hawkins (R) chose to run for the open Senate seat vacated by Senator Linda Evans Parlette (R). He has a strong lead over his challenger Jon Wyss with 56.22% of the ballots counted. With Hawkins running for the Senate, only Republicans filed for his open House seat. Early results indicate Republican Mike Steele, who is leading over challenger Jerry Paine (D) with over 60% of the votes counted, will fill Hawkins s vacated seat. 17 th Legislative District Republican Representative Lynda Wilson ran for the Senate seat left open by retiring Senator Don Benton (R). Early results show Wilson (54.06%) ahead of Democrat challenger Tim Probst (45.94%). Wilson s open seat in the House had Republican Vicki Kraft facing Independent Democrat Sam Kim. Kraft has a very slim lead at this time with 50.55% less than 400 votes separate her from Kim. 19 th Legislative District Appointed Representative JD Rossetti (D) was defeated in the primary. The top-two vote getters for the race were Republican Jim Walsh and Democrat Teresa Purcell. At this time, Purcell has a slim lead with 50.44% of the votes counted (just 220 votes separate the two candidates). Rossetti was appointed to this position in October, when Representative Dean Takko (D) was appointed to the Senate. Takko is running strong with nearly 57% of the votes counted in that race. 25 th Legislative District Representative Hans Zeiger (R) is in the lead (58.12%) for the Senate seat left open by the retirement of Senator Bruce Dammeier (R). Running for Zeiger s open seat were Democrat Michelle Chatterton and Republican Joyce McDonald. McDonald has received 55.41% of the votes counted in that race. 26 th Legislative District Incumbent Representative Jesse Young (R) has a strong lead over former Representative Larry Seaquist (D). Young has 54.87% of the votes compared to Seaquist s 45.13%. 30 th Legislative District It appears that neither Republican incumbent up for election in this district will win. Incumbent Representative Linda Kochmar (R) is trailing her Democrat challenger Mike Pellicciotti who has 55.3% of the votes cast compared to Kochmar s 44.7%. Likewise, incumbent Representative Teri Hickel (R) is trailing her challenger Democrat Kristine Reeves. Currently, Reeves has 52.21% of the votes counted in this race. 31 st Legislative District The retirement of Representative Christopher Hurst (D) provided an open seat in this district. Early results are indicating that Republican Phil Fortunato will win (56.88%) over Independent Democrat Lane Walthers. 41 st Legislative District Incumbent Senator Steve Litzow (R) had a tough primary race. This trend continued in the general election as Litzow is trailing his opponent educator-turned-ceo Lisa Wellman (D). Wellman has 55.15% of the votes counted versus Litzow s 44.85%. Page 4 of 5
44 th Legislative District Democrat Representative Hans Dunshee left his House seat to accept an appointment to the Snohomish County Council. It was filled by ex-legislator and Snohomish County Executive John Lovick. Republican Janice Huxford ran against Lovick for this seat. Lovick is currently in the lead with 53.1% of the votes counted. 49 th Legislative District With Representative Jim Moeller (D) choosing not to seek reelection, his seat opened up. Former Representative Monica Stonier (D) has received 54.86% of the votes cast in the race and Democrat Alishia Topper is at 45.14%. Statewide Ballot Initiatives & Advisory Votes There were six statewide initiatives on the ballot. The full text of the initiatives can be viewed here. Here are the results so far. Minimum Wage & Sick Leave Initiative 1433 Yes 59.48% No 40.52% Campaign Finance Laws & Lobbyists Initiative 1464 Yes 47.41% No 52.59% Extreme Risk Protection Orders Initiative 1491 Yes 71.17% No 28.83% Seniors & Vulnerable Adults Initiative 1501 Yes 71.57% No 28.43% Carbon Tax Initiative 732 Yes 41.48% No 58.52% Constitutional Amendment Initiative 735 Yes 63.78% No 36.22% Page 5 of 5