Washington state Democrats were poised to gain two more seats in the Legislature after candidates defeated Republican incumbents in a closely watched Southwest Washington district, a move that puts Democrats closer to a supermajority in the House.
In the 17th Legislative District, which sprawls north and east of Vancouver into Skamania and Klickitat counties, Democratic House candidates Ben Christly and Diana Perez each maintained 10-point leads over Republican incumbents Reps. Kevin Waters and David Stuebe on Thursday evening.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Waters conceded, congratulating both candidates and saying he looked forward to seeing them represent the district.
“Wishing Ben and Diana every success as they work to serve our district and its residents,” said Waters, who was first elected to the statehouse in 2022.
Christly said in a Facebook post Thursday evening that his campaign “chose to focus on people, not politics.”
“Even when the noise got loud, we stayed positive, treated people with respect, and kept our focus on what really matters,” he said.
Perez has been a Vancouver City Council member since 2022.
Democrats were also still ahead in several other Republican-held legislative races Thursday, though some leads are narrowing as ballots continue to be counted.
In the 18th Legislative District, which includes Battle Ground and parts of Vancouver, Democratic candidates Randi Knott and Deken Letinich were still ahead of Republican incumbents Reps. Stephanie McClintock and John Ley.
Knott had about 52% of the vote to McClintock’s nearly 48%. Letinich had nearly 54% to Ley’s 46%.
Democratic candidate Renee Hernandez Greenfield was still ahead of her Republican opponent Katy Cornell in District 26. Hernandez Greenfield had nearly 54% Thursday to Cornell’s 46%. The two are competing for a seat left open by Republican Rep. Michelle Valdez, who said earlier this year she was not returning to the Legislature.
In the 35th Legislative District, incumbent Republican Sen. Drew MacEwen was trailing his Democratic opponent Carolina Mejia. MacEwen had about 49% of the vote to Mejia’s nearly 51%.
Democrats were also ahead of Republican incumbents in the 14th Legislative District, which includes most of Yakima County with parts of Klickitat, Benton and Franklin counties, Thursday.
Democratic candidate Chelsea Dimas had 55% to Rep. Gloria Mendoza’s 44% after Thursday’s counts. Rep. Deb Manjarrez was also trailing her Democratic opponent Ezequiel Morfin, with nearly 44% to Morfin’s nearly 56%.
Other races remained tight Thursday.
Republican incumbent Rep. Brian Burnett gained a slight lead over his Democratic challenger Stacy Willoughby in the 12th Legislative District. After Thursday’s counts Burnett was leading Willoughby by 110 votes.
In the 25th Legislative District, Republican incumbent Rep. Michael Keaton was trailing his Democratic opponent David Berg by more than 600 votes for House Position 1. For the Position 2 seat, Republican incumbent Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen was leading Democratic challenger Jenn Marie Strickling by just over 200 votes.
Other closely watched competitive districts had clear winners this week.
In the 46th Legislative District, which includes much of Northeast Seattle, incumbent Democratic Rep. Gerry Pollet defeated his Democratic challenger Will Dreher. Pollet had nearly 64% of the vote as of Thursday to Dreher’s 35%.
In the 37th Legislative District, Democratic candidate for House Position 1 Kelabe Tewolde ousted incumbent Democratic incumbent Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos by a large margin. Tewolde had almost 63% to Tomiko Santos’ 36% Thursday.
For House Position 2, Democratic candidate Jaelynn Scott defeated independent challenger Evon McCorkle by a wide margin. Scott had 87% of the vote to McCorkle’s nearly 12%. Scott will be the first trans lawmaker to serve in the Legislature.
All 98 state House seats and 24 of 49 Senate seats were contested this election cycle. House Democrats need to flip seven seats to clinch a supermajority.
Ballots will continue to be counted in the coming weeks, so results will continue to change. The secretary of state will certify the election results on Dec. 3.
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