Turnout was low in Washington’s Aug. 6 primary election (just 25.5% statewide, and 24.7% in Clark County) But results were mostly favorable for organized labor at the state level and in Southwest Washington. Washington’s primary is a “top-two” winnowing contest, which means the top two finishers will appear on the ballot in the November general election. Nearly all candidates endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council and Southwest Washington Central Labor Council are moving on to the general election.
One of the most closely watched races in the nation is in the Third Congressional District, covering Southwest Washington. There one-term incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez came in first with 47% of the vote in preliminary results. She will face Republican Joe Kent (38%) in November. Perez beat Kent in November 2022 by less than 1%, and their rematch this fall is likely to be closely fought.
Meanwhile, in seven of the nine statewide races, candidates endorsed by Washington State Labor Council (names in bold) came out on top:
- Governor Democrat Bob Ferguson got 45% and will face Republican Dave Reichert (28%)
- Lieutenant governor Democrat Denny Heck got 49% and will face Republican Bob Hagglund (17%)
- Secretary of State Democrat Steve Hobbs (49%) will face Republican Dale Whitaker (37%)
- State treasurer Democrat Mike Pellicciotti (59%) will face Republican Sharon Hanek (41%)
- State auditor Democrat Pat McCarthy (59%) will face Republican Matt Hawkins (41%)
- Attorney general Republican Pete Serrano (42%) will face Democrat Nick Brown (35%)
- Commissioner of Public Lands Republican former Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (23%) will face fellow Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson (20%). That result shows the topsy turvy results that can sometimes happen in Washington’s top two primary: A majority-Democratic electorate in the state will choose between two Republicans in November because because the Democratic-leaning vote was was split in the primary among five candidates, while just two Republicans ran. Unions had gotten behind Democrat and union fire fighter Kevin Van de Wege, but he came in sixth place out of the seven candidates, with 8% of the vote.
- Superintendent of Public Instruction Incumbent Chris Reykdal (39%) will face David Olson (31%)
- Insurance Commissioner Democrat Patty Kuderer (45%) will face Republican Phil Fortunato (28%)
Washington State Labor Council also had decent results in legislative races in Southwest Washington: All eight endorsed candidates (names in bold) will be going on to the general election, and six of the eight were the top vote-getters in the primary.
LD 17 (Eastern Vancouver)
- State senate Republican Paul Harris (50.2%) will face Democrat Marla Keethler (49.6%)
- State rep, Position 2 Democrat Terri Niles (48%), a nurse union member, will face Republican David Stuebe (27%). This is Niles’ second run for the seat; she got 47% of the vote in the November 2022 election.
LD 18 (Clark County)
- State senate Democrat Adrian Cortes (47%) will face Republican Brad Benton (31%)
- State rep, Position 1 Republican incumbent Stephanie McClintock (55%) will face Laborers union leader Deken Letinich, a Democrat (45%)
- State rep, Position 2 Democrat John Zingale (48%) will face Republican John Ley (38%)
LD 49 (Vancouver)
- State senate Incumbent Democrat Annette Cleveland (62%) will face Republican Lucia Worthington (38%)
- State rep, Position 1 Incumbent Democrat Sharon Wylie (63%) will face Republican Brett Graham (36%)
- State rep, Position 2 Incumbent Democrat Monica Stonier (63%) will face Republican Russell Barber (20%)
In local races, all five candidates endorsed by Southwest Washington Central Labor Council (SWWACLC) (names in bold) will be going on to the general election. The three candidates running in Clark County took second place but will fight on, while the two candidates in Skamania county showed a considerable lead.
Clark County
- Clark County Council District 3 Wil Fuentes was less than 100 votes behind Chuck Keplar; the two will face off on the November ballot.
- Clark County Council District 4 Matt Little was a close second behind Joe Zimmerman and the two will compete in November.
- Clark PUD Commissioner District 1 James Oneil (24%) was a distant second but will face Sherry Erickson (59%) in November.
Klickitat County
- County Commissioner District 1 Independent Amanda Kitchings (68%) ran far ahead of Republican Todd Andrews (32%) but will face him again in November.
- County Commissioner District 3 Republican Ron Ihrig (65%) easily outpolled fellow Republican Dan Christopher (34%) but will face him again in November.
