ELECTION: Who won, who lost

State Representative | District 43 Position 1

In the 43rd District race between Democrats Nicole Macri and Dan Shih, the ballot count on election night shows Macri taking the race with 65.51 percent of the vote.

Neither candidate has previously held elected office.

Macri, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance Board president and co-chair for the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, was endorsed by 37th District Sen. Pramila Jayapal, who is running to take Jim McDermott’s 7th Congressional District House seat.

Shih serves on the ACLU of Washington board and volunteers for Lambda Legal and QLaw working on LGBTQ equal rights cases.

U.S. House of Representatives | Washington District 7

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 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.

Tuesday night's results are just initial results of ballots already counted and ballots will continue to be counted through the end of the month.

Governor

Jay Inslee appears to be heading back to the governor’s mansion in Olympia for a second term, taking 56.32 percent of the early vote on Tuesday night.

Inslee started in the Washington House of Representatives in 1989, and was appointed to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Eastern Washington, in 1993. He served Western Washington counties in the House from 1999-2012. He became governor in 2013.

Republican opponent Bill Bryant, who last served as a Port of Seattle commissioner, was highly critical of Inslee’s record during his campaign, calling him a “failed governor.” He opposed Sound Transit 3, proposed rebuilding the state budget — assessing and cutting funds for programs that don’t work — and used his experience as a volunteer night manager for the men’s shelter at St. James’ Church when stating he would have a zero-tolerance policy on homeless camping in Seattle.

Inslee took 56.32 percent of King County votes on Tuesday night.

Lieutenant Governor

48th Legislative District Sen. Cyrus Habib appears to be the winner in the race for lieutenant governor against Republican opponent Marty McClendon, a real estate agent, radio talk show host and part-time pastor. Habib took 55.81 percent of the vote on Tuesday night.

Interestingly, the Seattle Times offered no recommendation in the lieutenant governor race.

Secretary of State

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman looks as though she will be serving a second term, with statewide election results showing her ahead of opponent Tina Podlodowski with 53.14 percent of the vote on Tuesday night.)  

Wyman took office in 2013, having served 12 years prior as Thurston County auditor.

Podlodowski, a former Seattle City Councilmember and Microsoft manager, has been critical of Wyman’s transparency in coordinating this election. She said a mistranslation of the Spanish version of the state’s voters guide could suppress some voters. Prior to that, she criticized Wyman for calling for a change in state law to require checking a voter’s citizenship.

Treasurer

The state treasurer position left open by retiring incumbent Jim McIntire appears to be going to Duane Davidson, who is currently serving as Benton County treasurer, a position he’s held since 2003. He took 58.64 percent of the votes on Tuesday night.

Fellow Republican Michael Waite, who has spent more than 15 years in the private finance sector, including as senior vice president of operations at Bentall Kennedy, was trailing by about 300,000 votes.

Auditor

Democratic candidate for state auditor Pat McCarthy appears to have the lead against Republican opponent for state auditor Mark Miloscia in early voting numbers, taking 54.03 percent of the vote.

Incumbent Troy Kelley declined to seek reelection following an indictment on charges he embezzled funds from his private business before taking the position as auditor.

Miloscia is a Washington Legislative District 30 senator, having only taken the position in 2015. Prior to that, Miloscia had been House representative from 1999-2013.

McCarthy served on the Tacoma School District board from 1987-99, then becoming deputy auditor for Pierce County. She was elected auditor and served from 2003-2006. She served two terms as Pierce County executive starting in 2009.

Attorney General

Democrat Bob Ferguson appears likely to be elected to a second term as Washington Attorney General with election night results showing Libertarian opponent Joshua B. Trumbull trailing the incumbent with just 30.77 percent of the vote.

Ferguson took office in 2013 and has been highly focused on consumer protection cases. Trumbull was the only candidate to file against Ferguson.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

In the race for the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chris Reykdal led Erin Jones with 51.16 percent of the vote on election night.

The seat for the leader of the state’s public schools system was subject to an open race after Randy Dorn announced in Oct. 2015 that he would not run for a third term in office. Dorn made some bold moves in his final months, filing a lawsuit against seven school districts — including Seattle Public Schools — for unfair use of property tax levy dollars as a method his spokespeople said was a method to grab the Washington State Legislature’s attention on the school funding crisis.

Jones comes to the position as director of the Advancement via Individual Determination program in the Tacoma School District. She placed first in the August top two primary.

Reykdal was a Democratic member of the state House of Representatives, representing the 22nd District. Initially elected in 2010, he abstained from reelection in 2016 to run for the Office of the Superintendent of Public instruction.

I-124 (Seattle Protects Women)

Initiative 124 would provide room service servers and other hotel employees with panic buttons, require the posting of an anti-harassment policy inside all guest rooms, create a standardized response for employee reports of guest harassment and assault, limit room cleaning to roughly 15 in an eight-hour shift, add time and a half for additional square footage above the maximum and provide an opportunity for workers to keep their jobs in the event of new management or ownership.

Election night ballot counts show Seattle voters appear to approve of the measure 168,111 to 49,021.

I-732

Election night ballot counts show I-732 failing by a wide margin, taking just 35.91 percent of the vote.

Kyle Murphy, co-director for the Yes on I-732 campaign, told the League of Women Voters Seattle-King County in October the initiative is revenue neutral and there is no time to wait for a better measure to tackle climate change, though he conceded the carbon tax is one of a number of actions needed to lower atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

I-735

This measure would urge congressional delegates from Washington to support the overturning of Citizens United, amending the Constitution to state constitutional rights only belong to individuals, not corporations and free speech excludes spending money.

Election night ballot counts show I-735

Opponents argue I-735 would allow censorship of for-profit and nonprofit corporations.

I-1433

Election night ballot counts show I-1433 passing with 603,949 votes in favor or 53.02 percent.

The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, backed I-1433. In Capitol Hill, Molly Moon’s Molly Moon Neitzel was a strong endorser, appearing in ads and hosting a media event in August, where she said the gradual $15 minimum wage phase-in has helped her business and employees.

The No on I-1433 campaign argued raising the minimum wage, even incrementally, would negatively affect business owners in less economically robust regions in the state.

I-1464

Initiative 1464 is similar to Seattle’s Honest Elections Initiative 122, and would require political ads to include information as to who funded them, revise campaign finance law, impose restrictions on former public employees and lobbying and provide Democracy Vouchers for participating candidates and campaigns, which would be provided to voters for distribution. The $150 in vouchers provided to Washington voters would be funded by repealing the nonresident tax exemption, according to the initiative.

Election night results show I-1464 failing to pass at 43.99 percent of the vote.

Proponents argue the initiative will pay for itself by ending a sales tax exemption for nonresidents, while opponents argue it will cost border cities business.

In the Office of Financial Management’s fiscal impact statement for I-1464, it estimates the exemption will net $173.2 million in new revenues to the state general fund in the first six years, with $165 million going toward the Democracy Credit Program.

“In addition, the repeal of the nonresident retail sales tax exemption could affect the amount of goods purchased,” according to the fiscal impact statement. “This could cause price elasticity, which would affect state business and occupation (B&O) tax revenue.”

According to the Washington Department of Revenue, sales tax exemptions for nonresidents are only applicable for personal property, digital products or digital codes.

I-1491

Initiative 1491 would allow police, family or household members to obtain court orders temporarily prevent a person deemed to be exhibiting mental illness and violent behavior from being able to possess a firearm.

Election night results show the initiative passed easily at 64.96 percent or 737,677 votes.

There would be an extreme risk protection order, which a family, household member or person in a dating relationship could petition a superior court for, which would also require making a statement under oath. If approved, the order would be served by a law enforcement officer. Law enforcement would also be able to request such an order.

A second order, an Ex parte extreme risk protection order, would be more immediate, which would be fileable in municipal, district or superior court and would require a hearing the day of the filing.

The Alliance for Gun Responsibility has heavily endorsed this initiative, and King County Sheriff John Urquhart helped write the argument for its approval published in the Washington State Elections Voters’ Pamphlet.

Opponents argue the initiative doesn’t do enough, as it does not mandate treatment for those who may be found to be dangerous nor does it include taking away other dangerous items from a person facing a protection orders, such as vehicles and knives.

I-1501

Initiative 1501 would increase the penalties for criminal identity theft and civil consumer fraud targeted at seniors and other vulnerable individuals, making the offense a class B felony and considered first-degree identity theft.

Election night results show I-1501 passing widely at 73.32 percent.

The measure would also change the Public Records Act to increase the type of sensitive personal information prohibited from disclosure. This would apply to vulnerable individuals and their in-home caregivers.

Urquhart and Robby Stern with the Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action assisted in writing the argument for its approval published in the Washington State Elections Voters’ Pamphlet.

Opponents say the Service Employees International Union, which authored the initiative, wants the Public Records Act rewritten “to prevent in-home caregivers and childcare providers from learning they no longer can be forced to pay dues to the union.”