Out of a field of 28 candidates, Democrat Bob Ferguson and Republican Dave Reichert will advance to November gubernatorial race.
The governor's race headlines an unusual primary season in Washington, as a number of incumbents either declined to run again or pursued a different political office. This year is the first time since 2012 that Washington's gubernatorial seat has been open.
In the first wave of unofficial results released Tuesday night, Ferguson captured 45 percent of the vote. Reichert clocked in at 28 percent.
Semi Bird, who secured the Washington GOP's endorsement over Reichert, was eliminated, receiving nine percent of votes reported. Democrat Mark Mullet, who positioned himself as a moderate choice, garnered less than six percent.
Republican Pete Serrano and Democrat Nick Brown occupied the top two spots in the three-way primary to succeed Ferguson as Washington attorney general. Democratic state lawmaker Mankra Dinghra was likely eliminated.
In the state Commissioner of Public Lands race, former Republican Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler led a very tight three-way cluster at the top of the seven-person race.
Herrera Beutler had 23 percent of the unofficial vote. Fellow Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson and Democrat Dave Upthegrove were coming in near 20 percent.
Incumbent lands commissioner Hilary Franz is running for Congress in western Washington.
Democrat Patty Kuderer enjoyed a 17-percentage-point lead over Republican Phil Fortunato in the state Insurance Commissioner race. Six-term incumbent Mike Kreidler decided not to run again. Two years ago, he refused bipartisan calls to step down after allegations of staff mistreatment and inappropriate remarks became public.
But not all state-level races were open seats. Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck led Republican Dan Matthews, 49 percent to 23 percent, in the five-person race.
Incumbent Secretary of State Steve Hobbs led Republican Dale Whitaker, 49 percent to 37 percent, in a four-person contest.
Washington's current superintendent of public education, Chris Reykdal, faced challenges from three candidates: David Olson, John Patterson Blair and Reid Sarris. Preliminary unofficial results indicated Reykdal (40 percent) and Olson (31 percent) will emerge from the primary to meet again in November.
The non-partisan race for a seat on the Washington Supreme Court appeared set to narrow the field to Sal Mungia (42 percent) and Dave Larson (37 percent).
The races for state auditor and state treasurer both only had two candidates, so both will be advancing to the November general election.
Further results will be released around 5:00 p.m. each afternoon until all votes are counted. The election will be certified August 20.
