Adam Smith holds commanding lead over Doug Basler in initial WA-9 results

Democratic incumbent Adam Smith holds a commanding lead over Republican challenger Doug Basler in initial results for Washington’s 9th Congressional District.

Smith received 75.11% of the votes counted, while Basler received 24.22%.

Smith has represented Washington’s 9th Congressional District since 1997, making him the longest-serving member of the U.S. House.

In the August primary, Smith won 36,070 votes (50.9%) while Basler earned 16,842 votes (23.8%).

Smith previously served in the Washington state Senate from 1991 to 1996 and as Seattle’s city prosecutor from 1993 to 1995.

Sixth showdown between Smith, Basler

Smith and Basler are very familiar with each other. Smith has run against Basler for the 9th Congressional District in the 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 general elections, winning each time. In 2024, when Basler didn’t run, Smith faced Melissa Chaudhry, defeating her by 33 percentage points.

Chaudhry ran in this year’s primary as well, finishing fourth with 8,083 votes (11.4%).

As Smith celebrated advancing to the general election back in August, he took a few shots at his familiar opponent, Basler.

“My opponent has a different idea of the job. Ask him what he’d have done differently from this president and you won’t get an answer, because there isn’t one,” Smith wrote. “That’s the whole pitch. Go to Washington, D.C. and go along. We’ve seen where that leads. This president started a war in Iran on a hunch, with no plan for how it ends. Service members have died. Billions have been spent. Everybody here is paying for it at the pump. And not one Republican in Congress stood up and asked him a hard question about any of it.

“But I’ve been in enough hard fights to know this one is winnable,” he continued.

Smith said throughout his campaign that he is focused on easing the affordability crisis in his district and providing quality, affordable healthcare, and he is pushing for single-payer plans like Medicare for All.

“I will continue fighting to rebuild our representative democracy that Trump has tried to tear down, restore accountability, and lower the cost of everyday life by making sure our government delivers real results for working people,” Smith said.

Basler is a Spokane native whose career includes working as a volunteer youth pastor, corporate trainer, musician, and marketer. As an owner of an advertising and video production company, his campaign was focused on a pro-business platform.

Basler publicly supported Initiative I-001, which restores the parents’ bill of rights by undoing changes the Washington State Legislature made last year; Initiative I-638, which designates K-12 female sports for biologically female students; and Initiative 645, which would repeal Washington’s millionaires tax.

As for working alongside President Donald Trump, Basler said he’s focused on local issues.

“When President Trump is right, I’ll work with him. When I believe he’s wrong, I’ll say so,” Basler stated. “My responsibility is to represent the people of the 9th District.”

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