Adam Smith, Doug Basler to face off for sixth time in WA-9 race, Sawant comes up short in primary

Democrat incumbent Adam Smith and Republican challenger Doug Basler will advance to the November election to represent Washington’s 9th Congressional District.

Smith has been the U.S. Representative for Washington’s 9th Congressional District since 1997, making him the longest-serving U.S. House member. He received 36,070 votes (50.9%), while Basler earned 16,842 votes (23.8%).

Washington’s open primary system means the top two vote-getters of any party advance to the November election.

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

“Thank you to the voters of Washington’s 9th District. You gave us a decisive win last night and I don’t take a single vote for granted,” Smith wrote on X after the primary results came in. “Now we’ve got a general election, and it’s about something simple. People here are working harder than they ever have and still coming up short at the end of the month. Rent, groceries, a tank of gas. My job is to bring those costs down and hold this president accountable for the reckless choices he’s making.”

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, he took some shots at his very 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.

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

“I will strive to bring common sense, accountability, and real-world experience to Congress,” Basler’s campaign website stated. “My focus is simple: affordability, family, safety, opportunity, and a better future for our children.”

Sawant falls short

Kshama Sawant, who served on the Seattle City Council for a decade, finished in third place, receiving 8,896 votes (12.6%). After announcing she left the Socialist Alternative Party in 2024 to form her own party, Revolutionary Workers, she ran as an Independent.

Sawant was the first, and remains the only, member of the Socialist Alternative Party to be elected to public office. But for a chance to win the 9th Congressional District seat, she fell short of Basler’s vote tally despite raising $645,000 compared to Basler’s $99,000.

According to The Seattle Times, Sawant blamed Chaudhry for splitting the left vote while speaking to approximately 50 people at the Casa Latina worker center.

“Shame on Melissa Chaudhry,” Sawant said, according to The Seattle Times.

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