Here are the seats that have flipped parties so far in Washington’s election
While Republicans and Democrats have both managed to pick up seats this election cycle, Democrats in Washington state are so far performing better than what was expected for a midterm where Democrats have control of the White House.
Multiple pollsters had predicted Republicans could pick up new seats even in a fiercely blue state like Washington, but it was clear election night that would not be the case for certain positions, including Washington’s U.S. Senate seat, where long-time incumbent Democrat Patty Murray decisively defeated Republican opponent Tiffany Smiley.
Nearly 320,000 ballots remained to be counted in the state as of Monday. Several seats have already flipped less than a week out from Election Day, while some are still too close to call.
Each county will certify results on Nov. 29. Final results will be certified by the Secretary of State on Dec. 8.
These are the seats that have so far flipped control in Washington.
3rd Congressional District
Results tallied Saturday made it clear: Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez defeated far-right Republican Joe Kent for the Congressional House seat in Washington’s 3rd District, which covers southwest Washington, from the Oregon border to southern Thurston County.
Kent, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, ran for the position in the primary to edge out Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, and had been the sitting congresswoman in that district since 2007.
Gluesenkamp Perez’s win over Kent was hard fought in a typically right-leaning region. Current tallies show her with a lead of just over 2 percentage points over Kent.
The win benefits Democrats nationally in their attempt to keep control of the U.S. House.
Secretary of State
Democrat Steve Hobbs was first appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee to the Secretary of State position in 2021. Before the appointment, however, Republicans held the position for close to 60 years, making Hobbs the first Democrat elected to the office since 1957.
Kim Wyman was the last Republican to hold the office until she joined the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as the Biden Administration’s senior election security lead.
Julie Anderson, Hobbs’ nonpartisan opponent, conceded Thursday evening and the race was officially called by the Associated Press on Sunday. Hobbs beat Anderson by a slim margin with 49.8% of the vote, while Anderson had 46.15% according to the Secretary of State website.
While Anderson had some bipartisan support, some Republicans chose to endorse write-in candidate Rep. Brad Klippert. Klippert had made a bid for the 4th Congressional District seat in the primary, but failed to garner any real support. About 4% of the total vote for Secretary of State so far has gone towards write-ins, most expected to be for Klippert.
35th Legislative District Senate
Although longtime Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, caucused with Republicans during his last decade or so in the Legislature, the Senator was still listed as a Democrat in the 35th District, covering Mason County as well as parts of Thurston and Kitsap counties.
Republican Rep. Drew MacEwen so far has 55.8% of the vote for Sheldon’s vacated seat, while his Democratic opponent Julianne Gale came in with only 44.1%, officially flipping the seat from a Democrat to a Republican.
10th legislative district, House position 1
Although Democrat Clyde Shavers had a nearly 3 percentage point lead in the 10th Legislative District, that gap narrowed considerably after Sunday’s vote counts. His opponent, incumbent Rep. Greg Gilday, R-Stanwood, is now only trailing by a slim margin.
The district covers parts of Island, Skagit and Snohomish counties, and the latest results showed Gilday with the most support in Snohomish, while Shavers leads in Island and Skagit counties. Gilday was first elected to the seat in 2020.
Shavers was outed a week before Election Day by his family for lying about aspects of his military service as well as his current job in a law office, and some Republicans speculated that the news would ultimately hurt his campaign. So far, however, it looks like Shavers could still win the seat in final tallies.
42nd Legislative District Senate
In Rep. Sharon Shewmake’s bid for the Senate seat in the 42nd Legislative District, the Democratic lawmaker was sitting at 50.64% as of Monday, while incumbent Sen. Simon Sefzik was barely trailing with 49.27% of the vote so far.
Sefzik, a Republican and the youngest member of the Legislature, was appointed to the position in January after Sen. Doug Ericksen died from COVID-19 in December. Ericksen had held the seat since 2011.
