Washington certifies primary election results, recount underway for lands commissioner race
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With Washington’s primary election results in, eyes remain on key races throughout the state.
On Thursday, the Office of the Secretary of State certified the Aug. 6 Primary results. A manual recount of the results from the Commissioner of Public Lands race has been ordered. Dave Upthegrove, a Democrat, received 51 more votes than Sue Kuehl Pederson, a Republican who finished third in the race. Either Upthegrove or Pederson will face Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican who finished first in the primary.
In a press release, Assistant Secretary of State Kevin McMahan said the state is confident the elections were accurate and reliable.
“The mandatory recount underscores the importance of every vote and reaffirms the commitment of our county election officials to ensuring accurate election results,” McMahan said. “We ask for everyone’s patience as county election officials administer the manual recount to ensure that the intent of every voter is accurately heard.”
LD14 in the spotlight
In central Washington, at the center of the redistricting controversy, both Democrats and Republicans want to win the area’s Latino vote.
The 14th Legislative District has been seen as an opportunity for Latino representation after a judge approved a new redistricting map. The changes integrated some Hispanic communities of Pasco and the Yakima Valley into the newly defined district.
In the redrawn 14th Legislative District, Republican incumbent Curtis King led the race for state senator. Democrat Chelsea Dimas and Republican Deb Manjarrez led the races for state representative positions.
King held a wide lead in retaining his state senate seat in the 14th Legislative District over Hispanic Democratic candidate Maria Beltran by more than 16%.
The race for the 14th Legislative District state representative position 1 looked tighter, with Republicans Andy Kallinen and Gloria Mendoza running. Dimas, a Democrat, was also on the ballot.
Dimas, a Washington State Human Rights Commissioner from Sunnyside, garnered nearly 37% of the vote. Mendoza, the former mayor of Grandview, got over 32% of votes. Kallinen will not proceed to the general election.
For the district’s state representative position 2, the race was between Deb Manjarrez, Democrat Ana Ruiz Kennedy, and the nonparty-affiliated Eddie Perez.
Manjarrez, a Yakima business owner, took a wide lead with 54%, trailing Ana Ruiz Kennedy who got almost 40% of the votes.
According to the Secretary of State’s data, there are 4.8 million voters registered in Washington. Over 40% turned in their primary election ballots.
