22nd Legislative District wins dampened by national election results, candidates say
All three women running for the legislature in Thurston County’s 22nd District continue to hold wide leads over their opponents after Wednesday’s tallies.
As a result, they have turned their concern to what a second Donald Trump presidency will mean for their work at the state Capitol in the coming years.
Senate candidates offer perspective
Jessica Bateman now leads Bob Iyall for the 22nd District State Senate seat with 71% of the vote.
Bateman told The Olympian she’s feeling positive about the results and that 71% was “a little unbelievable.” She said she was grateful to run such a positive race against Port of Olympia Commissioner Iyall.
She said she also is grateful that Washington voters voted against three out of four ballot initiatives, all of which were aimed at rolling back recent legislation.
“It’s going to put us in a better position to be able to address some of the very serious issues that are going to come for us at the state legislature in terms of national politics,” she said.
Bateman said she’s been processing shock and disappointment over the national election results. She said in the coming months, lawmakers in Washington are going to have to get together to strategize on how to defend against some of the effects of a second Trump administration.
Iyall told The Olympian he is disappointed he didn’t make a better showing in the election, but he accepts it. He wasn’t surprised by how Washington’s initiatives fared or the results of the presidential election.
Iyall said he started his campaign in support of all the initiatives except for 2066, which concerns access to natural gas. It’s the only race out of the four that is still close.
He said in his opinion the initiatives were trying to address government overreach, which is why he supported most of them. But he’s not surprised voters didn’t lean the same way.
Iyall said he doesn’t think anyone should be surprised that Trump was elected, but he was looking forward to seeing the country’s first woman President.
“President-elect Trump, he has a lot of support. And I think it just goes to show how divided the country is, and even though I wanted to see Harris, we’re going to have to accept the outcome and deal with the next four years.”
House candidates speak out
Incumbent Position 1 House Rep. Beth Doglio had 71% of the vote as of Wednesday against her opponent Steve Owens.
Doglio said statewide results show that Washington has committed to providing clean air and water, health care and education to communities across the state.
She said she had been working on the campaign for Initiative 2117, which would have repealed the cap on carbon emissions, and she took the day off after the election.
“I’m elated we won,” she said. “You know, we smashed the initiatives, with the exception of 2066, but it’s really encouraging, and we ran good campaigns. People care about the environment. People want long-term care. They care about education. And it’s clear in Washington, and I’m proud to be a Washingtonian.”
But at the same time, she is frustrated at the results of the presidential election.
Doglio said she and her colleagues will do everything they can to make sure rights stay in place, and state protections for LGBTQ+ people and abortion access aren’t affected like they could be in other parts of the country.
Lisa Parshley is set to take Bateman’s empty House seat, with 64% of the vote over Syd Locke.
Parshley said it’s been difficult to celebrate her win when community members have been reaching out in fear of what another Trump presidency will mean. She said she’s had moments when she’s sad, fearful and angry, but she’s driven to stand up for Washingtonian’s rights.
“When you get elected, you always feel this moment of, ‘Oh, my god, I’m privileged to be here,’” she said. “But in times like these, we feel that privilege even more sharply.”
She encouraged people who are feeling frustrated over the election results to get involved in local issues.
“When it’s right, step up and that will be the best way to start healing,” she said. “Find something that makes you feel good, or at least better, about things, and not alone.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2024 at 12:30 PM.
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