All three women up for election in 22nd Legislative District have early leads Tuesday night
Olympia area residents will have a new state Senator, but with a familiar face, if the results of early tallies hold.
Here are how the three positions in the 22nd Legislative District that represents the heart of Thurston County stood as of Tuesday night.
Position 1 Rep.
Incumbent Beth Doglio, a Democrat, was leading Steve Owens, who didn’t state a party preference, in the race for Position 1.
Doglio had 71.4% of the vote against Owens, who had 28% as of Tuesday night. Doglio had 34,838 votes compared to Owens’ 13,674 votes.
Doglio said she was in Seattle on Tuesday night for the Initiative 2117 campaign after stopping by a party in Olympia with candidates. She said she’s thankful for folks in the 22nd legislative district for allowing her the privilege to represent them again in the legislature.
She said her lead over Owens felt good and she’s excited to get back to work for voters.
“This has been a hard campaign season, and I’m just really, really looking forward to getting back to supporting the folks in the 22nd district,” she said. “It’s my priority to make sure that people have a thriving life.”
Doglio said a lot of her campaign focused on the four initiatives on this year’s ballot and ensuring folks voted “No” on all four. By Tuesday night she said it looked like three were going down, and it was too close to call on Initiative 2066. She said the fact that the three are failing is recognition that the work of the legislature is really solid around long term care, taxes, education and more.
“That’s where I put a lot of my energy. This electoral cycle is really defending the good work of the legislature for the last decade. That’s what those initiatives represent and where we’re winning,” she said.
Doglio is currently the chair of the House Environment & Energy Committee and recently worked at Climate Solutions. She is also the board chair of Quixote Community, which is a housing organization, and she’s on the boards of the South Sound YMCA and the PARC Foundation.
According to Public Disclosure Commission data, Doglio’s campaign has raised $135,758 and spent $94,287. Her top campaign contributors were small contributions totaling more than $3,000, followed by the Washington State Auto Dealers PAC, the Suquamish Indian Tribe, and the Nisqually Indian Tribe, all with donations of $1,200.
Owens is a software engineer for Disney with experience as a Republican precinct committee officer. In 2014, Owens ran as a Republican for the 22nd District state representative position 1 against incumbent Democrat Chris Reykdal. In this election, he is not running under any party affiliation and describes himself as “anti-party” instead of independent.
According to Public Disclosure Commission data, Owens’ campaign has raised and spent zero dollars.
Position 2 Rep.
Democrat Lisa Parshley, an Olympia City Council member, was leading fellow Democrat Locke, a legislative assistant, with 64.3% of the vote, or 29,052 votes. Locke had 32.8% of the vote, or 14,820 votes, on Tuesday night.
Parshley said she was celebrating with other local candidates at the Thurston County Democratic Women’s and Democratic Party campaign in Olympia.
She said she was overwhelmed by the confidence voters have shown in her so far, but she’s nervous when it comes to the national election results.
“I’m worried that if we don’t have Kamala as president, what are we going to have to do to protect Washington, and also feeling simultaneously privileged to be part of a group that might be able to do something in the legislature,” Parshley said.
Parshley said if Donald Trump wins the Presidential election, there’s a certain amount of determination she’ll have to not allow him to hurt Washington.
“There’s going to be some tough things ahead of us if Trump wins, and I can’t wait to work with other legislators to make sure Washington is protected as things get crazy,” she said. “But if Kamala wins at the end of the day, I’m ready to and willing to work with the legislators again to take advantage of all things she wants to bid. It’s going to be potentially exciting times.”
According to Public Disclosure Commission data, Parshley’s campaign has raised $82,656 and spent $77,085. Her top campaign contributors were the Justice for All PAC with a total contribution of $2,400 and the WA Federation of State Employees with a contribution of $1,200.
According to Public Disclosure Commission data, Locke’s campaign has raised $21,562 and spent $11,049. His top campaign contributors were himself, with a donation of $2,161, and the Democratic Socialists of America Olympia Chapter with a donation of $1,200.
District 22 Senator
Jessica Bateman led Bob Iyall with 71.5% of the vote, or 33,374 votes, to replace retiring Sam Hunt. Iyall had 26.4% of the vote, or 12,315 votes.
More than 1,000 votes counted by Tuesday were cast for a write-in candidate.
Bateman said she was celebrating Tuesday night with other local candidates at the Thurston County Democratic Women’s and Democratic Party campaign in Olympia.
She said she was overwhelmed with gratitude at the preliminary results, and she’s excited to get back to work.
“We ran a really positive campaign that was focused on the issues and what I can do to serve the people of the 22nd legislative district, and I’m just ready to get to work to provide more housing and protect reproductive rights and increase access to behavioral health and much more,” she said.
Bateman commented on the fact this may be the first time in history the 22nd district has had an all-woman delegation. She said she’s excited to have a stellar team of female elected officials representing the district.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had an all-female delegation, I’m not sure that we actually have,” she said. “So really looking forward to working together with Rep-elect Parshley and Representative Doglio in the House.”
Bateman said she’s praying for positive results at the national level, and she wants to let people know that there’s strong leadership in the 22nd legislative district and Washington who are doing the work for citizens.
Bateman has served as the 22nd District’s representative for the past four years. She told The Olympian that during that time, she has served on the Housing Committee and the Capital Budget Committee, and she has been Vice Chair of the Health Care Committee all four years.
She also has a day job as a strategic adviser for Washington Community Health Centers, which are nonprofit health care organizations that, as a network, provide care to a large percentage of Medicaid patients.
Before serving in the legislature, Bateman served as an Olympia City Council member for five years, two of those as Deputy Mayor. Prior to that, she was on the Planning Commission and the board of GRuB, the local nonprofit focused on food security and community.
According to Public Disclosure Commission data, Bateman’s campaign has raised $180,874 and spent $83,813. Her top campaign contributors were IUPAT District Council 5, WA Hospitality Association and the Nisqually Indian Tribe, all with $1,200 donations.
Iyall is a Commissioner at the Port of Olympia, elected in 2021. He is an elder and member of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, and CEO of the Medicine Creek Enterprise Corporation, which manages the tribe’s for-profit businesses.
According to Public Disclosure Commission data, Iyall’s campaign has raised $63,393 and spent $57,241. His top campaign contributors were himself with contributions totaling more than $13,000, followed by a number of tribes including the Nisqually Indian Tribe and The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation with $1,200 donations.
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