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Election 2018 | No surprises for Capitol Hill’s incumbent contingent but celebration for the House

Capitol Hill’s Fred Wildlife Refuge hosted Pramila Jayapal’s Election Night party as the incumbent headed for a sure victory after a weekend of get out the vote activity in the neighborhood

Hopes for a repudiation of the Trump administration and a Democratic “Blue Wave” hit modest heights Tuesday as election results rolled in around the country and at a handful of Election Night parties on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.

The neighborhood and the city joined strong voter turnout in the area. The Broadway ballot drop box was full by 9 AM Tuesday morning. King County Elections has projected a turnout above 70% among its 1,289,482 registered voters. Officials said some 660,000 ballots would be counted on Election Night — a record total. You can track your ballot here.

WA-07 incumbent Rep. Pramila Jayapal celebrated Tuesday night at a party in Capitol Hill’s Fred Wildlife Refuge. Her victory over her Republican challenger was never in doubt but her seat will add to the newly won Democratic majority in the nation’s House of Representatives.

Capitol Hill’s incumbent Olympia contingent including longtime Speaker Frank ChoppRep. Nicole Macri and Sen. Jamie Pedersen also were on their way to easy victories.

Jayapal said the Democratic takeover of the House should not be underestimated.

“If you look at where we’re winning and how many seats we’re going to have, we’re going to have a significant majority,” she said. “We’re winning in places where we never thought we would.”

“I feel like it’s a wave. I don’t know what people are looking for when they’re looking for a wave. But I think it’s really a significant victory.”

The new majority could mean tough days for President Trump.

“We’ve got the House. That means we have got subpoena power,” Jayapal said. “That means we’ve got the power to demand the president turn over his tax returns. It means we can push back on these horrendous immigration policies.”

More dramatic tallies were found in the first counts for Seattle’s Proposition 1 and the statewide initiatives.

The Jenny Durkanchampioned education levy got off to a strong start in the first count and is being tallied as a win for the mayor. The levy, proposed by the city, not the school district, would raise about $619 million over seven years. In 2019, it would mean a property tax rate of up to 36.5 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value. A citywide median home of $665,000 would pay $242 in taxes. The Families and Education Levy is planned to expand services for the city’s school-aged children from preschool to college.

Washington’s bid to create a fee on carbon looks like it will be a fight that extends beyond Election Night. The measure would require the largest polluters in the state to pay $15 — and, eventually, more — for every ton of carbon dioxide their corporations release into the atmosphere.

 I-940 to change state law hindering prosecution of wrongful police shootings and provide more training on de-escalating lethal situations had a strong first count and is projected to pass.

Measure 1639, the only statewide gun control on a ballot in the nation this November, also had a strong first showing. The measure would require increased background checks, training, age limitations, and waiting periods on semiautomatic assault rifles and would criminalize negligent storage.

The cola industry-backed I-1634 to set limits on local taxation of products like soda and “items intended for human consumption” weighed in with a neck and neck seemingly lopsided race.

You can view the results here via results.vote.wa.gov.

CHS reported on Jayapal’s locally-focused “get out the vote” efforts from the Seattle Democratic Headquarters inside E Pine’s Odd Fellows building and her belief that the city’s votes could be the difference maker in some key statewide results. “Our district has really good turnout, but because in this district we don’t have deeply competitive races, people might not always understand how important their vote is,” Jayapal said.

Other Capitol Hill Election Night gatherings included the Families Yes campaign to pass the Prop 1 schools levy at The Cloud Room above Chophouse Row, and a Town Hall Seattle watch party on E Pike. Capitol Hill’s The Riveter coworking space, meanwhile, teamed up with “bad ass women” fashion brand Wildfang for a “She Came, She Saw, She F*cking Voted: Election Night Party” where attendees no doubt celebrated the many women candidates who won their races and helped boost the Democrats to its House of Representatives victory.

 

 

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