From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
- We have election results galore today, including a look at the 5th Congressional District race in Washington.
- We’ll look at how the people of Washington and Idaho voted on statewide initiatives.
- We’ll review the results of Spokane area legislative and Spokane County races.
And two of our reporters share their observations after attending Election Night parties.
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Unofficial election results show Washington U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner with a slight lead over his Democratic opponent Carmela Conroy.
Baumgartner leads by nearly two thousand votes, one percentage point districtwide.
Baumgartner gathered with supporters, friends and family at the Swinging Doors restaurant in north Spokane last night [Tuesday].
BAUMGARTNER: “The election results tonight are going to be very, very tight. What we saw in Eastern Washington votes is there was a tremendous Democratic surge of voting early on in the election. And as additional ballot counts have come in, they have been very, very strongly Republican. So we feel very, very good about the way the election is going to end up.”
In Spokane County, Conroy has a nearly seven percentage point lead.
CONROY: We thought it was going to be a close race. We’ve been working our little hearts out this whole time, talking with voters all across the district, and hearing the pain that they were feeling as a result of prices going up.
Conroy says she and her team will volunteer to help cure any ballots that have an error. Say your signature looks different than what the state has on file–you can go to the county and fix it.
The election will be certified on Nov. 24.
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Washington voters approved an income tax for the state’s wealthiest residents.
About 58% said no to Initiative 645, which would have nullified the so-called “millionaire’s tax” the legislature approved this year.
Washington state could be poised to ban transgender girls from competing in girls’ school sports. Reporter Sarah Mizes-Tan has more on Initiative 638.
Early ballot tallies show the ban has 56% of the vote so far. This ban would be the first of its kind in Washington state and would require all students looking to compete on girls school sports teams to undergo medical testing to prove their birth sex.
HERZBERG: We’re glad that girls are making their voices heard and Washingtonians are standing with them and supporting their right to play safe and fair sports and opportunities that boys aren’t taking from them in their athletic endeavors.
That’s Hallie Herzberg, spokesperson for Let’s Go Washington, the conservative group behind the measure.
State Attorney General Nick Brown has vowed to fight the ban with lawsuits if it does pass.
About half of states have some sort of trans sports ban on the books…but Washington would be the most left-leaning state with such a rule.
_____________________________________________________________________Washington voters said no to Initiative 001. It would have repealed amendments made by the state legislature to the so-called “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” Voters approved that in 2024. The legislature made the changes in 2025.
Three incumbents on the Washington Supreme Court are leading in their bids for re-election or for full terms. They are Chief Justice Debra Stephens and newer justices Colleen Melody and Theo Angelis. Superior Court Judges Sean O’Donnell and Jamie Hawk are leading in the two races where there are no incumbents.
In judicial races in Spokane County, most of the incumbents were not challenged. Two races did have competition. Deanna Crull has an eight point lead over Michael Valerien. Nicholas Ulrich leads by six points over Michael Addams.
Two races for Spokane County offices are very close after the first counting of ballots.
About 150 votes separate the two candidates for county auditor, Republican Michael Cathcart and Democrat Callie Gee. Cathcart’s lead is about a tenth-of-a-percent.
Michael Cathcart: “I think we're in a good position. Obviously, it's close, but, you know, and we're going to have to wait the next few counts to really get a sense of where we're at.”
The winner replaces longtime auditor Vicky Dalton.
The other close race is for county clerk, where Tim Fitzgerald is retiring. Democrat Elliot Robison is up by six-tenths-of-a-percent over Republican Dave Lucas. Again, more votes are still to be counted over the next several days.
Republican Preston McCollam is up nearly six points over Danny Tarkenton for county prosecutor. Republican Suzanne Schmidt has a seven-point lead over independent candidate Rachelle Miller for county commissioner. Commissioner Amber Waldref ran unopposed, as did several other county officials. Assessor Tom Konis, Sheriff John Nowels and Treasurer Mike Volz.
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It was a good night for Spokane County school districts. All but one of the levies on the ballot are leading after the first count of ballots. The one that’s trailing, in the Riverside district, is within shouting distance. It’s only 29 votes behind with still more to count.
Spokane Public Schools’ levy is close to 60% support. Superintendent Adam Swinyard was happy with that. He says the levy provides about 15% of the district’s revenue.
Adam Swinyard: “It supports reasonable class sizes, nurses, counselors, advanced placement programming, highly capable programming, special education services. It really does step in and provide the experience that our community expects from our school district, and we're really grateful we can continue to provide that level of service, even in the wake of dealing with such historic inflation.”
The West Valley, Nine Mile Falls and Cheney districts each have two levies on the ballot. All are passing for now. Administrators in the East Valley and Central Valley districts are also crossing their fingers. The CV levy is close, with a little less than 51% support.
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Now to Spokane area legislative seats.
Third District Democrats, Natasha Hill and Luc Jasmin III, each have solid leads after last night’s election results. Hill is seeking a second term in Olympia.
Jasmin is seeking to replace longtime Rep. Timm Ormsby in the state House. He says his campaign team knocked on more than 15,000 doors during the last several months.
JASMIN: The biggest thing that folks are talking about is cost of living. Utility bills are high. They’re worried about being able to pay for the housing they’re in. And we need to see wages go up.
Jasmin has about two-thirds of the vote in his race with Republican Natalie Poulson. Hill has 68% against Republican challenger Tony Kiepe.
In the 4th District, Republican Rob Chase has nine point lead over Democrat Rob Tupper in his run for re-election. Chase’s former legislative assistant, Hillary Pham, has a two-and-a-half point lead over fellow Republican Trent Maier [myer] in the race for an open House seat.
In the 6th District, Republican Alan Nolan has an inside track on a legislative seat.
Unofficial results show Nolan with a nearly 3-percent lead over Democrat Michaela Kelso.
Nolan says he’ll keep an eye on the results as additional ballots are counted during the next few days.
NOLAN: “We’ve worked pretty hard, we’ve had really good response from the voters, and I think that’s reflected in the results we see. And I actually would expect, based on how the votes are coming in, that maybe we’ll even see that lead expand. But either way, I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to serve in the 6th Legislative District.”
Fellow Republican Jonathan Bingle has a more substantial lead – about nine points – over his 6th District opponent, Democrat Julia Payne.
BINGLE: “I feel really good about the results tonight. There’s still, you know, a long way to go, but tonight’s results are very encouraging so far.”
In the 7th District, Sen. Shelly Short appears headed for another four years. House members Andrew Engell and Hunter Abell were unopposed in their quest for second terms. In the 9th District, Republicans Mary Dye and Joe Schmick are ahead in their re-election bids.
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Idaho voters said no to two of the three statewide initiatives on the ballot. They turned down Proposition 1, which would have re-established some abortion rights. It had about 44% support. They also said no to a constitutional amendment that would put the legislature in charge of determining whether certain drugs should be legalized. It lost by a two-to-one margin. Voters did say yes to a constitutional amendment that makes English the official language of the state. That’s already in state law. Voters also said they would prefer the Winchester model 1873 as the official state gun.
Idaho will send the same three people back to Congress. Voters re-elected U-S Senator Jim Risch and House members Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson.Gem State voters also elected Republican Governor Brad Little to a third term. The other six state officials – all Republicans -- were also chosen to serve new four-year terms. They include Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke,, Secretary of State Phil McGrane, Controller Brandon Woolf, Treasurer Julie Ellsworth, Attorney General Raul Labrador and School Superintendent Debbie Critchfield.
Most of the incumbents who serve North Idaho in the legislature are also going back to Boise. The new legislators are Scott Herndon, who is headed back to the state Senate after a two-year absence, and Republican Jane Sauter, who will represent Bonner and Boundary counties.
_______________________________________Washington’s 5th Congressional District race is closer-than-expected. That’s one of several local contests that SPR reporters paid attention to last night. SPR’s Audrey Nelson sat down with Ember Braun and Lisa Leinberger to parse the night’s results.
AUDREY NELSON: Both of you were at different parties for candidates in the 4th and 6th Legislative Districts — the 3rd as well. So Lisa, let’s start with you. What are some of your most notable takeaways from Election Night, for these races in particular?
LISA LEINBERGER: For these in particular, I think — well, for Natasha Hill and Luc Jasmin, both of them were very excited. They've got commanding leads right now. And Natasha was excited that there's people turning out to still vote and make sure that their community is represented.
And for Luc Jasmin, he talked about how people are concerned. They have — they're struggling. They have to — they have high utility bills and high rent. And they understand that voting is what gets by.
AN: Ember, how about you? What did you hear from some of the Republicans you spoke with?
EMBER BRAUN: Yeah, there were two different Republican parties going on, one at Fizzie Mulligans and one at Swinging Doors. Both were kind of family oriented with supporters, friends and family, kids running around, just focused on what the future of America would look like. And that's the sense I got from both of those parties.
Kind of on Lisa's note, Republicans were also very thankful to voters. That was the sentiment, too, is thank you for coming out and voting. Lots of onus on them — and more just about how maybe it was going to be a tough night for Republicans, but that it wasn't shaking their confidence. They expect to see more support in the next couple of days.
AN: One of the closer races was between Baumgartner and Conroy for the 5th Congressional District. And that race is still close, as far as we know, with those initial preliminary results. Ember, what did you hear from Baumgartner at his party?
EB: Yeah. He also reiterated these are just unofficial results. He expects to see more support in the next couple of days and said that it's not shaking his confidence. He expects to see more support come his way. And also just, again, focused on family, thanking supporters and says that he's put in the work and he expects it to pay off.
AN: Lisa, what did you hear from Carmela Conroy, Baumgartner's Democratic challenger?
LL: She's very encouraged. She said that there are still votes out there. She said there are a number of ballots [that] probably need curing.
That means maybe your signature didn't match what the state has on file or the county has on file for you. So you'll have to go in and make sure that they have the right one. But yeah, she's very close and is very encouraged and she's excited about how the race went tonight.
AN: What will each of you be watching for as these numbers continue to be tallied? Ember, I'll start with you.
EB: Yeah, I think something to focus on is definitely this Baumgartner and Conroy race, just to see how that plays out in the next couple of days. But also these legislative districts, especially District 6, see how that pans out for Bingle and Nolan.
LL: Julia Payne, Bingle's competitor, she was very thankful for her voters too. I'll keep an eye on that one. And also Baumgartner and Conroy, I think that'll be a really interesting race to watch.
AN: Yeah, that'll be one of the biggest ones we're watching in the days ahead. One more question for both of you. You know, nationally, we saw affordability and cost of living play a really huge role in how people voted. Was that something you heard reflected from candidates tonight?
LL: Not only candidates, but I talked to Paul Dillon, the head of the Spokane County Democrats, and he's also a City Council member here in Spokane. And he said that that was definitely something that he's been hearing.
EB: Yeah, that was also something I heard from candidates at the parties that I went to. Baumgartner made sure to talk about how he wants the state to be more wealthy. He wants to take care of voters here. And I also talked to Alan Nolan, who said that was going to be his first item on the agenda if he gets elected, is to make eastern Washington more fiscally responsible. And even Hillary Pham reiterated some of those comments, too, saying, you know, don't tax people out of the state. That was one of her big comments.
AN: Anything else either of you want to add about what you witnessed tonight or what you're going to think about going forward?
LL: I think the Democrats, they had a big screen, a TV on all night during their party with Carmela Conroy. And they were watching the other — the national races very closely. And I think there's a lot of excitement built up there. There was a lot of cheering. And I think they've — a lot of people were telling me they felt a lot of hope after tonight.
EB: I would say the same thing for Republicans. Very thankful to voters, a lot of onus on the voters, but also a louder crowd, people very excited and just focused on the days ahead.
ANNOUNCER OUT TAG: That was SPR’s Audrey Nelson, speaking with reporting colleagues Ember Braun and Lisa Leinberger.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Ember Braun, Lisa Leinberger, Sarah Mizes Tan, Audrey Nelson and Doug Nadvornick, today’s host and producer. Web support is provided by Anna Gyure Havlek.
Thanks for listening. This is SPR News.
