Incumbent state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, appears to have easily bested Democratic opponent Kelli Hughes-Ham 59.97% to 39.93% on Tuesday night in the race for the 19th Legislative District for Position 1. Walsh led by 8,159 ballots with 24,412 votes to Hughes-Ham’s 16,253.
Walsh is seeking his fourth term in the state House. He was first elected in 2016. Having previously served as chair of the Grays Harbor County Republican Party and vice chair of the Washington State Republican Party, Walsh originally decided to run for state representative after many of the people he was recruiting to run for the Legislature told him he should do it instead, he said previously.
Hughes-Ham, an art and career and technical education teacher, decided to run against Walsh because she felt he wasn’t able to work with Democrats and achieve results for the 19th District.
The office of state representative has a two-year term.
The election comes only about two weeks after Walsh’s wife, Jamie Walsh, was killed in a car accident in late October.
During a call with The Chronicle, Walsh said he was pleased with the results.
“We're grateful for the numbers. They’re about what we modeled and predicted. The ex factor in the 19th is the (3rd congressional) race and the fact that (Republican candidate Joe) Kent was instructing his supporters to hold their ballots until today. So we expect to see an uptick (later in the week),” Walsh said. “We are encouraged and honored that the people of the 19th have given us strong support in our representation of them in Olympia.”
Walsh told The Chronicle he believed the decisive issues of the campaign were crime, cost of living, schools and constitutional overreach, in that order.
He added he was grateful for the volunteers who supported him during what was a very difficult campaign for him.
“My wife died in the middle of it. I would say it wasn’t a textbook campaign. I had a group of great volunteers who helped me through it,” Walsh said.
Asked if there was anything he would have changed about his campaign, Walsh said he would have spoken more “clearly and loudly about the principles of traditional values and conservative governance.”
Walsh struck a forward looking note in his comments about the outcome of the race.
“I am looking forward to representing the people of the 19th district in a strong and assertive manner for working families who are being beset on all sides by bad policy out of Olympia,” Walsh said.
