Incumbent takes lead in close Federal Way area state House primary
New vote tallies from Washington State’s primary show Rep. Teri Hickel, R-Federal Way, with a narrow lead over Democratic challenger Kristine Reeves.
Reeves was ahead in earlier ballot totals this week.
With more ballots to be counted, Hickel is ahead of Reeves by only two votes in the 30th Legislative District House race. The district is in the Federal Way area.
No matter who wins the primary, the pair will compete in November’s general election.
Reeves is the state’s director of Economic Development for the Military and Defense sector.
Democrat Mike Pellicciotti has a small lead over incumbent Rep. Linda Kochmar, R-Federal Way, in the 30th District’s other House primary contest.
The two 30th District races are considered pivotal to control of the state House. Democrats have a 50-48 majority in the chamber, but Republicans hope to capture enough swing districts in the general election to take over.
A Democratic win in the 30th District could allow Democrats to keep their lead.
Walker Orenstein: 360-786-1826, @walkerorenstein
This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Incumbent takes lead in close Federal Way area state House primary."