Early primary returns suggest GOP failed to flip targeted legislative districts, Dems say

While most primary election results have not been called officially, many Democrats are already celebrating big wins across the state legislative district, especially in elections that were marked as weak districts by Republican challengers.

Midterm primary election results 

Currently, the Democrats control 28 of the 49 seats in the state Senate, and 57 out of the 98 seats in the state House.

The two seats Republicans identified as weaker districts were the 26th and 44th districts.

In the race for the 26th district, Sen. Emily Randall currently sits at 53.32% of the vote, with her main challenger Jesse Young at 42.6%.  Even when Republicans consolidate Young and David Crissman’s primary votes, it would still put Republicans 7% behind Randall in the general election.

Similarly in the 44th district, John Lovick is beating out his Republican opponent Jeb Brewer by 19%.

The results are not over, and this is just the primary, says Caleb Heimlich, Washington State Republican Party Chairman.

However, there are some districts with promising results from Republican candidates.

In the 47th district senate race, Republican Bill Boyce is in the lead with 44.56% of the vote, and his two Democratic challengers Satwinder Kaur and Claudia Kauffman trail with 27% each. If enough Democrats favor Boyce over the challenger who moves forward in the primary, or if enough do not change their vote for the spoiler, the 47th district could flip. The incumbent, Mona Das, is not seeking reelection.

And in the 42nd district, if enough Republicans can rally behind incumbent Simon Sefzik, who is likely to win the primary over fellow Republican Ben Elenbaas, their vote totals of 33% and 19% would be enough to beat out Sharon Shewmake, who currently has 47% of the vote.

Republicans eye weak legislative districts as Democrats batten down against Red Wave

One of the main reasons that state Democrats feel they have successfully fended off Republican challengers is voting turnout. Historically, higher rates of voter turnout do lead to more Democrats being elected.

State Democrats say they expect the total voter turnout to beat out 2014’s 31.15% and be closer to 2018’s 40.79%. Currently, the voter turnout is reported at 21.76% by the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, which is tasked with oversight of the election.

“Democrats are highly motivated this year in the face of Republican extremism,” Adam Bartz, Executive Director of the Washington Senate Democratic Campaign said. “From abortion to LGBTQ rights to the attacks on our democracy, these results show that the current Republican party is out of touch with people in Washington. We’re confident these results will hold into November.”

In an interview on the Jason Rantz show Heimlich said that the Democrats shouldn’t celebrate too soon though, with a large portion of Republican ballots likely to come in over the next few days.

“I think we have a really good chance in the 26th in Gig Harbor, the 47th in Kent, and the 30th in Federal Way, with Jessie Young, Bill Boyce, and Linda Kochmar,” Heimlich said. “I will remind people that in Washington state, it’s going to take a couple of days to count. And so there will be results dropped at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And traditionally, conservatives and Republicans like to vote on Election Day. So oftentimes, we’ll see our vote totals trend upwards.”