UPDATE: Seattle voters said “I’m with her” in the first results of the August 2016 primary as Pramila Jayapal and Nicole Macri posted commanding leads in their respective races Tuesday night.
Jayapal took 39% of the vote in the 7th Congressional District race as Brady Walkinshaw and Joe McDermott were in a dead heat for the second spot in the top-two primary. Speaking to his supporters at the Comet, Walkinshaw vowed to press on in the race. Jayapal told her supporters at Hale’s Ales in Fremont that the results showed voters were responding to her progressive campaign. “I want to help lead the important conversations that define who we are as a country, made stronger by our diversity,” she said. “Together, we can and will tackle two of the most pressing issues of our times, climate change and income inequality.”
Nicole Macri took an even bigger lead with 49% of the vote in the 43rd District House race. Dan Shih held a comfortable second place with 25.8%, while Republican Zachary Zaerr came in a surprising third place with the first ballot drop.
Proposition 1 received 67.9% of the vote in a strong show of support for a renewed and expanded property tax levy to fund affordable housing. “I have only just begun,” said Mayor Ed Murray, who proposed the measure. Voters also appear to not like the idea of replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with an elevated park — Initiative 123 only garnered 19.4% of the vote.
.@BradyWalkinshaw gets a big welcome to his elex night party at the Comet pic.twitter.com/fCzyaJlBPo
— Bryan Cohen (@bchasesc) August 3, 2016
While ballots will continue to be counted in the coming days, Tuesday’s results practically ensure the end of the road for 43rd District candidates Sameer Ranade, Scott Forbes, Marcus Courtney, Thomas Pitchford, John Eddy, and Zach Zaerr.
The major statewide races turned out largely as expected in the first ballot drop, with Governor Jay Inslee turning out 62.7% of the vote and Sen. Patty Murray winning 66.7%. You can check results for all the races here.
UPDATE (8/3): With just under 600 votes between them, Walkinshaw overtook McDermott in Wednesday’s ballot count, giving the Capitol Hill resident a slight lead in the close race to face-off with Jayapal in the general election.
Macri and Shih easily maintained their respective first and second place positions on Wednesday, all but assuring their advance to November.
Original report: The 2016 election season may be remembered as a watershed period in national politics, but there is a lot on the line locally in Tuesday’s statewide primary. Voter turnout in King County is projected to be around 37%, according to King County Elections.
First ballot counts are expected to drop around 8:15 PM. We will be updating here with the results. Let us know what you’re seeing and hearing around the many Capitol Hill’s election parties happening Tuesday night.
Only two candidates will emerge from the primary in the races to represent Capitol Hill in Congress and in Olympia. Brady Walkinsaw, Pramila Jayapal, and Joe McDermott are the likely frontrunners in the race to fill a rare opening to rep Seattle in Congress. Longtime representative Jim McDermott (no relation to Joe) announced his retirement earlier this year.
Walkinshaw’s early jump into the race set off a flood of candidates vying for his 43rd District State House seat. CHS recently spoke with all eight candidates about what they would do to address housing affordability and civil rights issues in Seattle.
Team @BradyWalkinshaw gathering at Comet Tavern for primary results https://t.co/ZQPdtUHN6H pic.twitter.com/ahOHXP9Svn
— Bryan Cohen (@bchasesc) August 3, 2016
The fate of the city’s crucial affordable housing fund also hangs in the balance. Proposition 1 would renew the City of Seattle housing levy which uses property taxes to directly fund affordable housing projects in the city. The measure would double the existing housing levy—which has collected $145 million since 2009—to $290 million over the next seven years. This amounts to an annual increase by $122 for the median Seattle homeowner (up from $61 annually) as per city estimates.
A Prop. 1 victory would be a major win for Mayor Ed Murray, who proposed the measure as part of his solution to Seattle’s housing and homeless crisis. Another measure, Initiative 123, would replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with an elevated park.
