Primary-election highlights and lowlights

AGC’s BUILD PAC’s Senior Council decided last fall that the priories for the 2017 elections would be to (1) retain the majority coalition caucus in the Senate; (2) flip the House majority, and (3) elect Bill Bryant as Governor. Of the 55 candidates endorsed for the primary election, all but two (as of Monday) will move on to the general election in November. There are several races that are still too close to call.

Below are highlights of the top races as of Tuesday morning, Aug. 9 (these are not final election results).
 
• Legislative District 1 Senate: Guy Palumbo (D) breaks away from Rep. Luis Moscoso (D) in LD 1 Senate race. Palumbo has a 705 vote lead and it is expected that he will face Mindi Wirth (R) in November general election.

• Legislative District 5 Senate: AGC’s BUILD PAC candidate Senator Mark Mullet (D) widens lead over Rep. Chad Magendanz (R) from 199 votes to 314 votes.

• Legislative District 15 House Pos. 2: AGC’s BUILD PAC candidate Dave Kearby is 11 votes behind AJ Cooper. There will likely be a mandatory recount. The winner of these two will take on Rep. David Taylor (R) in the general election.

• Legislative District 17 Senate:  AGC’s BUILD PAC candidate Rep. Lynda Wilson overtakes Tim Probst in the LD 17 State Senate race and is now 33 votes ahead. This race is expected to be a nail-biter in the general election.

• Legislative District 28 Senate: AGC’s BUILD PAC candidate Senator Steve O'Ban maintains lead over Marisa Peloquin. This race is one targeted by the Ds.

• Legislative District 30 House Pos. 1: AGC’s BUILD PAC candidate Rep. Linda Kochmar is behind Mike Pellicciotti by 840 votes. This race is a target by the Ds.

• Legislative District 30 House Position 2: AGC BUILD PAC candidate Rep. Teri Hickel (R) is currently down by 13 votes. The lead in this race has gone back and forth since they began counting ballots. This race is a target by the Ds.

• Legislative District 41 Senate: AGC’s BUILD PAC candidate Senator Steve Litzow's has fallen behind Lisa Wellman by 298 votes. They will both be on the November ballot.

• Governor: Good news is that Jay Inslee was kept under 50% of the total vote in the primary.  AGC endorsed candidate Bill Bryant received 38.49% compared to Inslee’s 49.19%.

• Lt. Governor: Unfortunately, AGC’s BUILD PAC candidate and long-time friend Senator Steve Hobbs didn’t make it through the primary. It looks as if Republican candidate Marty McClendon will take on Democrat Senator Cyrus Habib.

If you have any questions regarding the primary election or the upcoming general election, contact the AGC Legislative office at 360.352.5000.