ELECTION: Jayapal beating Walkinshaw in early results

State Senator Pramila Jayapal is defeating State Representative Brady Walkinshaw (D) for the opportunity to represent Washington state in the 7th Congressional District of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In initial election results released 8:42 p.m. Tuesday night, Jayapal was defeating Walkinshaw with 57.84 percent of the vote. 

After incumbent Representative Jim McDermott announced his retirement from the United States Congress on Jan. 6, the 7th Congressional District faced a nine-way open competition for the position, with five Democrats, two Republicans and three independent candidates. Under Washington state's top two primary system, Walkinshaw and Jayapal emerged as the winners of the August primary to become the competitors in a safely Democratic general election race.

Said race remained largely civilized until Walkinshaw ran a decidedly decidedly mellow "attack" ad and launching PramilaFacts.com in late October to question Jayapal for, among other things, living outside the 7th District and being rated in the bottom 98 percent of state senators by FiscalNote. Jayapal and supporters subsequently accused Walkinshaw of emulating the tactics of Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Ballots will continue to be counted through the end of the month.