On election night in Eastern Washington, Democratic candidates didn’t see a “blue wave” anywhere near the same size as the one that swept the nation. Still, early results suggest that Democrats did make inroads in historically Republican districts. Two days later, several of those races are still too close to call.
In Washington’s 4th Legislative District, incumbent Republican Rob Chase led Democrat Rob Tupper by nearly ten percentage points as of Thursday morning.
“Will that turn?” Tupper said. “Probably not. But if it does it'd be a miracle, and it's also a great big showing for the Democratic wave in the 4th Legislative District.”
In 2024, Chase’s Democratic challenger, Ted Cummings, lost with 36% of the vote; in 2022, no Democrats made it to the general election; and in 2020, the Democratic candidate again lost by almost 30 percentage points.
As of Thursday, Tupper had drawn over 45% of the vote.
“I'm just looking forward to two years from now when myself or someone even better will be running this race,” he said.
Tupper isn’t the only Democrat performing better than expected. Early results in the 6th Legislative District, which includes Fairchild Air Force Base, showed third-time candidate Michaela Kelso with about 47.6% of the vote. In 2024, she received about 39%, and in 2022 — her first year running — she secured 38%. She lost both years.
“It's a 10-point gain,” Kelso said of her current standing. “And it's significant.”
On Thursday, Kelso, a Democrat, trailed Republican opponent Alan Nolan by fewer than five points.
One of election night’s most high-profile races took place in Washington’s 5th U.S. Congressional District, which spans most of Eastern Washington. Though Republican incumbent Michael Baumgartner has since pulled slightly ahead, on election night, he led Democratic challenger Carmela Conroy by less than a percentage point.
Conroy previously ran against Baumgartner in 2024, losing that election by more than 20 points.
“People are really hurting, and we have spoken very clearly that our incumbent representative has not been looking after our interests in this district,” Conroy said. “That's what I'm hoping to do, and that message is out there.”
She added: “But it's too close to call.”
