Close primary results portend tight fall elections

Squeakers and surprises. Some incumbents placed second and several winners of county and state legislative districts’ Aug. 4 primary elections had razor-thin margins. Five-term Second District County Commissioner Ken Dahlstedt has been retired, placing third in his bid for re-election.

Newcomer Mark Lundsten bested District 1 County Commissioner Ron Wesen (R-Bow) by 442 votes of over 19,000 cast. Johnny Archibald, former Anacortes city councilmember is out of the race. The two Anacortes Democrats won 54% of District 1 votes. Citizens countywide will vote for the commissioners in November.

LD 10 Position 2 State Rep. Dave Paul, D-Oak Harbor, lost to La Conner Republican Bill Bruch by 1,037 votes in the three-county district of Island and parts of Skagit and Snohomish counties. Paul won by four votes in Skagit County. Conway Progressive Taylor Zimmerman is eliminated. Bruch received 48.7% of the districtwide vote in the three-way race.

Stanwood Republican Greg Gilday won 45% of the Skagit County vote for LD 10 Position 1 against four Democrats and 46.2% of the district’s votes. He will face former Island County Commissioner Angela Homola of Oak Harbor in the fall. Homola pulled 26% of the district votes, though she came in third behind Suzanne Woodard in this county. Democratic candidates won 55% of the Skagit County vote and 53.7% districtwide.

LD 10 State Sen. Ron Muzzall, appointed last fall, won the district by 1,087 votes, with 50.8% but lost by 17 votes in Skagit County to Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson.

Former Skagit County Prosecutor Tom Seguine came in first for Skagit Superior Court Judge Position 3, gaining 45.4% of the vote and besting Public Defender Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski by 7,261 vote in a three-way race. Court Commissioner Heather Shand Perkins came in third by 673 votes.

Newcomer Peter Browning, Burlington Chamber of Commerce director and former Skagit County director of public health won comfortably with 41.4% of the vote against Democratic Mount Vernon Councilmember Mary Hudson and Dahlstedt, who was in third by 352 votes. Browning did not state a party preference.

In the Second Congressional District, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, had a wide margin against seven challengers with 48.5% of the vote in the district comprised of San Juan and the western parts of Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties. He polled 47.6% of the Skagit County votes. Tim Hazelo came in second, well ahead in the county and district, with 16% and 14.9% respectively.

Gov. Jay Inslee won 44.1% of Skagit County votes and 50.2% statewide against 35 challengers. Loren Culp, Republic police chief, in Ferry County, came in a strong second, with 35.7% of the vote, more than doubling the 17.4% he polled statewide.

Voter turnout of 59.4%, almost 48,000 of the county’s 80,739 registered voters, was almost 20% higher than the guess Skagit County Elections Officer David Cunningham hazarded to make in July. Political watchers are expecting a record turnout in November, when President Trump will be challenged by former Vice President Joe Biden.

Handicapping November’s winners is complicated by moving from district to countywide voting for the county commissioners, and Skagit County comprising less than 25% of LD 10, shared with Island County and part of Snohomish County. It is not known which political party’s supporters participated in higher numbers nor is there information available to predict the ratio of Republicans to Democrats voting in the fall.

That ratio of turnout will determine if close races will be repeated or if one side will win comfortably, perhaps flip-flopping primary results.

Skagit County has certified its election results. The secretary of state will certify all results by Friday. Voter turnout statewide was 54%.