Kim Wyman, Gael Tarleton lead race for Washington Secretary of State

In ongoing Primary election results, incumbent Kim Wyman and Democrat Gael Tarleton continue to run neck and neck in the race for Washington Secretary of State, garnering over 50% and just under 45% of the vote, respectively. The top two vote-getters will move on to the general election on November 3.

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Current Secretary of State Kim Wyman has been serving in that role since 2013. Most recently, she has been defending Washington state’s vote-by-mail system as secure. She said in her statement that voter confidence in the state’s election is her top priority.

Election security is one of the most important issues all four candidates mentioned in their statements submitted to the state.

Tarleton released a statement regarding the results of the Primary that reads in part:

Tonight, Washington voters said that the job of this office has changed. They want a Secretary of State who is prepared to defend our elections against current and emerging threats and who will stand up to Donald Trump’s attacks on our democracy.

Throughout this campaign and throughout my career, I’ve promised to protect every vote and every voter, so we’re going to wait until every vote is counted to see where we end up. But we know this — thanks to our people-powered campaign, I am going to face Kim Wyman this fall.

Wyman released a statement of her own following the early Primary results that showed her holding more than 50% of the vote in the four-candidate field.

While there are still many ballots left to count, I am incredibly humbled by the support and response from voters tonight. With our state’s accessible and secure elections system, voters were able to safely cast their votes while on the verge of shattering our 2016 turnout in the process. Washington’s elections lead the rest of the country in accessibility and security and that is what I will be celebrating tonight.

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