Matt Marshall, who did not advance in the 2020 primary race against incumbent state Rep. JT Wilcox, appears to be on his way to the general election four years later, according to primary election results.
District 2 encompasses a section of southeast Pierce County and a narrow sliver of east Thurston County. The other candidates in the race are fellow Republican and former Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza and Democrats Yanah Cook and Michael Holloman.
One of them will replace Wilcox, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
According to Secretary of State tallies as of Wednesday, Marshall had captured a little more than 34.15% of the vote, or 7,907 votes, compared to Snaza at 29%, Cook at 23.65% and Holloman at 13.1%.
Cook, Snaza and Holloman did not immediately respond to calls for comment on the election.
Marshall said Tuesday night that he was feeling good about the results, although it was still early and he was trying not to get overly optimistic.
His early lead he credited to an active campaign, saying they had knocked on an estimated 20,000 doors in the district, plus he had received endorsements from the Pierce and Thurston county Republicans.
He also thinks he appealed to younger voters — Marshall is 40 — and he has a diversity of experience that makes him relatable to people. Marshall is an Army veteran, works in health care and served one term on the Eatonville School Board.
Other outlying contested races
In the race for state Senate in Legislative District 19, incumbent Republican Jeff Wilson had 60.1% of the votes tallied by Wednesday, while his Democratic challenger Andi Day had 39.7%.
In the contested District 19 legislative state representative position 2 race, Republican incumbent Joel McEntire was leading with 58.2% of the vote, followed by Democrat Terry Carlson at 38.5%, followed by Libertarian candidate Justin Franks a distant third with 3.2%, as of Wednesday’s tallies.
In the District 19 state representative position 1 race, longtime incumbent Jim Walsh, now the state GOP chairman, had a sizable lead over Democratic challenger Mike Coverdale, 58.4% to 40.4%.
District 19 covers Thurston, Grays Harbor, Pacific, Lewis and Cowlitz counties.
In the District 20 state representative position 1 race, Republican Peter Abbarno was running away from Culture Republican Party candidate Melvin Kaleolani Apana, 88.6% to 7.4%.
District 20 covers Thurston, Lewis, Cowlitz and Clark counties.
