The day after Washington State's August primary, results were still rolling in across some of the biggest races on the ballot. Under Washington's top two primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Several key congressional and state Supreme Court contests were on the ballot, with votes still being counted into the night, according to FOX 13 Seattle.
In southwest Washington's 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate Democrat, will move on to the November ballot. Brent Henrik ran to her left in the primary, but Gluesenkamp Perez more than doubled his total vote. She will now match up against Republican John Braun, who is the minority leader of the state Senate. Each of the two front runners had received about the same number of votes, with roughly 54 percent of the vote counted.
The Associated Press projected that both Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun would advance out of the 3rd District, with Gluesenkamp Perez at about 38.9 percent and Braun at about 38.7 percent as counting continued. Political analysts have been monitoring the 3rd District contest very closely, considering it a key battleground in determining which party will control Congress.
In the 4th Congressional District, the race has come down to a Republican and a Democrat for a seat left open after Congressman Dan Newhouse announced he would not run for re-election. It was a wide race, with 11 candidates vying for the office. The large field narrowed to two finalists once the early returns came in.
John Doresky, a retired Air Force major who ran as the sole Democrat in that race, received the second most votes so far and will advance to the general election. He will face off against the candidate with the most votes, Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney. McKinney rose above the other conservative candidates in the field with the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Jared Sesler received the third most votes in the 4th District and will not advance to the general election. Last month, Sesler had apologized after accusing the Colville tribes of welcoming wildfires on their land in order to receive disaster relief funding. His third place finish ended his bid before the general.
Four seats on the state Supreme Court were also on the primary ballot. So far, three incumbent justices will advance to the general election, while the race for Supreme Court Position 3, which has no incumbent running, was too close to call among three candidates with 57 percent of precincts reporting. A fifth Supreme Court seat will appear on the November ballot but was not part of the primary, since only two candidates are running for it.