Today is Election Day!
If you still need a voter guide, click here.
If you want to find out if your friends and family has voted yet, click here.
Once the ballots have been mailed in and the results start coming in, pay close attention to what is happening around the state, along with the races in your district.
Currently, the House is made up of 55 Democrats and 43 Republicans. The Senate has 24 Republican and 25 Democrats.
However, the situation in the Senate is unique because 2 Democrats have been joining with 24 Republicans to form the Senate Coalition Majority of 26 Senators.
In this year’s election, both of the Senate seats held by Democrats who caucused with Republicans are up for election.
Democrat Senator Rodney Tom is not running for re-election in the 48th legislative district and his seat is likely to be won by a democrat who will not caucus with the Republicans.
Democrat Senator Tim Sheldon in the 35th and is generally considered to be front runner. It is expected that he will continue to caucus with the Republicans.
Here is a list of the some other races to keep an eye on.
Senate
Close races in seats held by Democrats
- 30thlegislative district: Miloscia (R) & Song (D)
- 44thlegislative district: Kellett (R) & Hobbs (D)
Close races in seats held by Republicans
- 28thlegislative district: Green (D) & O’Ban (R)
- 42ndlegislative district: Greenwood (D) & Ericksen (R)
- 45thlegislative district: Isenhower (D) & Hill (R)
House
Close races in seats held by Democrats
- 17thlegislative district: Wilson (R) & Stonier (D)
- 25thlegislative district: Stambaugh (R) & Morrell (D)
- 26thlegislative district: Caldier (R) & Seaquist (D)
- 33rdlegislative district: Burrage (R) & Su-Ling Gregerson (D)
- 35thlegislative district: Griffey (R) & Haigh (D)
Close races in seats held by Republicans
- 26th legislative district: Schlicher (D) & Young (R)
- 44thlegislative district: Wilson (D) & Harmsworth (R)
It is likely that some of these races will not be decided for days or even weeks as late arriving ballots are counted. An analysis of some of the close races are included below as well as links to legislative and federal race results.
ELECTION ANALYSIS
Legislative District 17: Representative Monica Stonier (D) vs. Lynda Wilson (R)
In 2012, Representative Monica Stonier was elected by a small margin of 139 votes. Now fast-forward to this year’s primary election and Representative Stonier was trailing behind Lynda Wilson by 692 votes. Elections in the 17th legislative district have a history of winning elections by very narrow margins. In 2012, Senator Don Benton won his Senate seat with only 78 votes.
Legislative District 26: Representative Jesse Young (R) vs. Nathan Schlicher (D)
This is a race of the Representative and the former Senator. Representative Jesse Young is running against Nathan Schlicher, who was appointed to the Senate seat at the beginning of 2013 but lost the seat later in the year to Senator Jan Angel. Ironically, Representative Young was appointed to replace Senator Angel’s seat when she won her Senate seat in 2013.
Legislative District 28: Senator Steve O’Ban (R) vs. Representative Tami Green (D)
This is one of the three senate races funded by California billionaire, Tom Steyer, who is also a friend of Governor Inslee. However, despite being a targeted race by the Democrats, Senator O’Ban was able to keep an almost 3,000 vote lead over Representative Tami Green during the primary election. Senator O’Ban and Representative Green were seat mates for the 28th legislative district up until June 2013, when Senator O’Ban was selected to take the seat of the late Senator Mike Carrell.
Legislative District 30: Mark Miloscia (R) vs. Shari Song (D)
Mark Miloscia is a former Democratic Representative who is now running as a Republican for an open Senate seat. The Senate seat is currently held by Senator Traci Edie (D). If Mark Miloscia were to win this seat, the Senate Republicans could gain the seat they need for the majority. But if Sharon Song were to win this seat, the Senate Democrats could potentially have the votes they need to keep the majority.
Legislative District 35: Senator Tim Sheldon (D) vs. Irene Bowling (D)
In the 35th legislative district, we have a Democrat running against a Democrat. The only difference is that Senator Sheldon is part of the Majority Coalition in the Senate. Because he is part of the Majority Coalition, other Democrats are trying to replace him with another Democrat, Irene Bowling. During the primary election, Senator Sheldon trailed behind Irene Bowling by 553 votes. But the third candidate, Republican Travis Couture, had received some 9,300 votes. Chances are Senator Sheldon could get the votes he needs to keep his seat in the Senate.
Legislative District 42: Senator Doug Ericksen (R) vs. Seth Fleetwood (D)
Senator Doug Erickson has normally held a strong lead over his opponents in previous elections winning by thousands of votes. During the 2008 and 2010 primary elections, Senator Ericksen has won by at least 6,500 votes. But this year, he is one of the three Senators that Tom Steyer has been funding to replace. This has had an impact on his race, resulting in a 4,189 vote lead during the primary election. This is down from his 8,153 vote margin during the 2010 primary election. Voter turnout is greater during the general election than the primary election and in the 2008 and 2010 general elections, Senator Ericksen has won by 11,300+ votes.
Legislative District 45: Senator Andy Hill (R) vs. Matt Isenhower (D)
This is the third and final senate race the Tom Steyer is funding this election. In 2010, Senator Hill was elected with 29,606 votes (1124 more votes than his opponent). In the August primary election, Senator Hill was leading by 1919 votes, a pretty decent margin of votes. But it will be interesting to see if the support and funding from California has the impact the Democrats hope for.
Please consider this another reminder to fill out your ballot and send it in. If you need help figuring out which candidate best represents your values, visit washingtonvoterguides.com or if you are able to, text your zip code to 77039. Once you have filled out your ballot, make sure your friends and family have voted with the FPIW Vote Finder.
Remember, every vote counts. Races have been won by just a handful of votes. Do your part and vote. Washington State needs you to.
**Note: Although every race is important, the races listed above are some highlights from this election.
