Washington voters Tuesday decide which candidates advance to the November ballot in 10 congressional races, a U.S. Senate seat and dozens of legislative contests in the state’s primary election.
While voters began receiving their state primary ballots in the mail weeks ago, Tuesday is the last day for voters to get them in or postmarked for mail delivery. In some of the more competitive races, results may not be known for days as most counties will update vote counts only once a day.
As national Democrats eye making gains in the U.S. House, the match that is getting the most attention in the primary is the open 8th Congressional District race to replace retiring Republican U.S. Representative Dave Reichert. Among the dozen candidates on the ballot, Republican Dino Rossi is expected to advance along with one of three Democrats – Kim Schrier, Jason Rittereiser, or Shannon Hader. The other nine U.S. House seats are also contested in the primary, with the incumbents seeking re-election.
In Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District, Republican incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers is expected to advance to November, along with Democrat Lisa Brown, a former chancellor of Washington State University-Spokane who previously served as majority leader in the state Senate.
The lone statewide race is for U.S. Senate. Former state GOP chairwoman Susan Hutchison is among more than two dozen primary candidates challenging three-term incumbent Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell.
In 76 of the 123 legislative races on the ballot, there’s no contest, with 15 races unopposed. In 61 seats, there are only two candidates running, all of whom will automatically advance to the November ballot under the state’s top-two primary system. (AP)
