WA SENATOR
Incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell appears headed back to Washington, D.C., for another term in the U.S. Senate.
Initial results Tuesday night showed Cantwell with 61 percent of the vote, and her Republican challenger, Dr. Raul Garcia, with 39 percent.
The Associated Press called the race for Cantwell shortly before 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
Cantwell has represented Washington in the U.S. Senate since 2001.
WA DISTRICT 5
Spokane County Treasurer and former state lawmaker Michael Baumgartner is the apparent winner over former diplomat and Spokane County Assistant Prosecutor Carmela Conroy in the race to represent eastern Washington in the U.S. House.
The first batch of results released Tuesday night showed Baumgartner with 60 percent of the vote, to Conroy’s 40 percent. Conroy conceded around 8:45 p.m.
Republican Baumgartner hoped to succeed the retiring Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who was elected in 2004. Democrat Conroy hoped to flip the seat the party last held in 1995, when former House Speaker Tom Foley lost his re-election bid.
In contrast to Congressional races in other parts of the country, the Baumgartner-Conroy campaign was noted for the civility both candidates demonstrated in debates.
Though the Fifth District is considered a safe Republican seat, it’s not a blowout seat. In the 2020 and 2022 elections, McMorris Rodgers won 60 percent of the vote. Her Democratic challengers claimed around 40 percent each time. Tuesday's preliminary results showed similar patterns.
WA DISTRICT 4
Incumbent Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse got an early, but narrow, lead in his bid to keep his seat, according to initial results Tuesday night.
Newhouse had 51 percent of the vote against fellow Republican Jerrod Sessler, who claimed 48 percent.
Newhouse, first elected in 2014, was in the fight for his Congressional career. He drew Donald Trump’s ire in part for voting to impeach the former president in 2021. Sessler won Trump’s endorsement during Washington’s summer primary season. Trump again called on central Washington voters to support Sessler last week.
In 2022, Newhouse cruised to victory over Democrat Doug White, 67 percent to 31 percent. No Democrat emerged from the August top-two primary. The last Democrat to represent the Fourth Congressional District was Jay Inslee, who held a single term from 1993 to 1995.
ID DISTRICT 1
Results from Idaho Congressional races were slower in coming Tuesday night, but no major surprises appeared in the early results.
In the First Congressional District, incumbent Republican Russ Fulcher led three challengers by a comfortable margin. Fulcher had 72 percent of the vote, followed by Democrat Kaylee Peterson (25 percent), Libertarian Matt Loesby (2 percent) and the Constitutional Party's Brendon Gomez (1 percent).
ID DISTRICT 2
In Idaho's Second Congressional District, incumbent Republican Mike Simpson held 54 percent of the vote. Democrat David Roth had 40 percent, Libertarian Todd Corsetti had five percent, and the Idaho Law party's Carta Sierra had two percent.