It was a good night for the legislative incumbents who serve eastern Washington counties. Each of the incumbents in the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Ninth Legislative Districts won their primary challenges.
But in the Sixth District, it's a different story.
With Republican Michael Baumgartner leaving to run for Spokane County treasurer, the Sixth District Senate seat is there for the taking. Republican Jeff Holy is trying to move up from the state House, but he’s in a tough race with Democrat Jessa Lewis. Lewis holds a two percentage point lead. At Tuesday night’s Democratic Party gathering, she was happy.
“Tonight absolutely proved what we were seeing on the doors and the conversations we were having. The people on the West Plains and the surrounding areas of Spokane are ready for a change," Lewis said. "But in reality, the real work starts tomorrow so I think we definitely need to keep pushing out our message and letting people know we’re ready to fight for them.”
Holy's seat in the House will be filled by either Democrat Dave Wilson or Republican Jenny Graham. Wilson has nearly 43% of the vote in a four-person race; Graham has 31%. It’s her first run for public office.
“You know what? I am very excited," Graham said. "I have learned so much along this process from not ever having run before, not having any experience, but just trusting that I know that I’ve been talking to friends, neighbors and listening to the concerns that they have.”
In the other race in the Sixth District, Democrat Kay Murano is leading one-term incumbent Rep. Mike Volz (R-Spokane). She has 53% of the vote.
In the Third District, incumbent House members Marcus Riccelli and Timm Ormsby, both Democrats, won their primary. In the Fourth, Republicans Matt Shea and Bob McCaslin were victorious. In the Seventh, Republican Senator Shelly Short and Representatives Joel Kretz and Jacquelin Maycumber all won easily. In Kretz’s race, Mike Bell is leading fellow Democrat Crystal Oliver for the right to move on into the November general election. In the Ninth District, Republicans Mary Dye and Joe Schmick posted comfortable victories.
The top two candidates in each race will now move on to the November election.