One race from the August primary was so close, it didn’t wrap up until this week.
With only two months until the November general election, the race for state lands commissioner has finally been determined after a recount and final certification this week.
Democratic candidate and King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove will face Republican and former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler to become the next state commissioner.
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The recount was triggered after Upthegrove’s second place finish bested Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson by only 51 votes across the 1.9 million ballots tallied in the August primary. The hand recount showed Upgthegrove did, indeed, out-tally Pederson — by just 49 votes.
A statewide hand recount is required when the difference between the two candidates is less than 1,000 votes and less than one-fourth of 1% of total ballots.
CHS reported here on the key races for Seattle voters coming out of the August primary as progressive vs. centrist political battle lines emerged in the city.
The general election is November 5th.
I thought the Top Two primary was a good idea when it was introduced, but results like this have made me think we should go back to party primaries. This is not the first time the Democrats have split the vote amongst themselves in the primary, and we ended up (or almost) with two Republicans.
Until we switch back, I will always vote for the front-running Democrat, to be on the safe side. So much for more choice.
Either approval voting or ranked-choice voting would solve this vote-splitting problem.
Well, this is a big relief. Whew!