Primary voters choose gubernatorial, congressional candidates

MOSES LAKE — Washington voters chose candidates for governor, U.S. Senator and House of Representative seats, along with other state offices, in the primary election Tuesday. Grant and Adams County voters each cast ballots for two county commission races. 

In unofficial results, incumbent Congressman Dan Newhouse trailed fellow Republican Jerrod Sessler in district-wide results, although Newhouse was leading in Grant County. District-wide, Sessler had 20,703 votes to 17,365 for Newhouse. Newhouse had seven challengers for the seat.  

In Grant County, Newhouse led with 1,791 votes to 1,748 votes for Sessler. A small slice of Adams County is in the Fourth District, and Sessler had 158 votes in the county to 111 for Newhouse.  

“The ballots are obviously still being counted,” Newhouse said during a press call late Tuesday. “I don’t think we have the full picture yet, so we’re just operating off of preliminary numbers, but based on what we’ve been able to see so far, I’m feeling very good and optimistic, and I think we were successful in our goals here and now we’ve got to look forward to November.”  

Sessler took the initial results of the primary as an opportunity to express appreciation for Tiffany Smiley as an opponent and threw a few attacks at Newhouse in a statement emailed to media outlets and supporters Tuesday night.

“Once again, the vast majority of this district who know Dan Newhouse well voted to end his congressional career, and unlike in 2022, Republicans succeeded in unifying behind a single campaign that stands for secure borders, traditional constitutional values, and a robust America First agenda,” Sessler’s statement read. 

In the Fifth District, which includes most of Adams County, Republican Michael Baumgartner and Democrat Carmela Conroy are leading in the race to replace retiring incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Baumgartner received 29,892 votes and Conroy 20,938 votes in a race that drew 11 candidates.  

In Adams County Baumgartner received 253 votes; fellow Republican Jacquelin Maycumber finished ahead of Conroy, with 97 votes. Conroy received 42 votes.  

Incumbent Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell received 578,629 votes statewide in a field of 11 candidates. Republican Raul Garcia had the second-highest total, with 212,439. 

Cantwell had a slight lead on Garcia in Grant County, with 1,896 votes to 1,850 for Garcia. Adams County voters cast 406 votes for Garcia and 263 for Cantwell.  

Democrat Bob Ferguson and Republican Dave Richert are leading a field of 27 candidates in race for Governor. As of primary night, Ferguson received 459,407 votes; Richert had 281,993 votes. Only two other candidates in the field received more than 2%. Republican Semi Bird received 94,938 votes and Democrat Mark Mullet received 58,934 votes. 

In Grant County, Reichert received 2,916 votes and Ferguson 1,226. Bird had 667 votes. In Adams County, Reichert received 524 votes, Ferguson 154 and Bird 135. 

Two candidates are running in each of the four commission races, and all candidates will advance to the general election. In the primary, commission races are only on the ballot in the district represented by the commissioner.  

In Grant County, Kevin Burgess, Moses Lake, received 1,072 votes to 620 for Amador Castro, Moses Lake, in the race for Commission District 1. A third candidate, David Bren, filed for the seat, but dropped out partway through the race. Bren received 424 votes.  

The winner will replace Danny Stone, who didn’t file for reelection.  

Incumbent Rob Jones was leading challenger David Henderson in the race for Grant County Commission District 2. Jones received 1,070 votes to 692 for Henderson. 

In Adams County, incumbent Dan Blankenship, Ritzville, received 404 votes to 223 for challenger David Lobe, Ritzville, in the race for Commission District 1. Incumbent Jay Wiese received 84 votes to 48 votes for challenger Hank Rivard in Commission District 2.  

Turnout in Adams County was 12.87% of registered voters and 13.06% in Grant County, among the lowest in the state. Grant County Republican Party chair Andrew Koeppen said that was a disappointment.  

“People need to get out and vote,” Koeppen said. “A person who doesn’t vote in an election is a vote for everything they oppose.” 

Grant County Democratic Party chair Stephen Starr echoed that. 

“It’s pretty sad on the ballot returns,” he said.  

The Grant County Auditor's office estimated there were about 3,054 votes left to count. About 451 votes were left to count in Adams County. 

R. Hans "Rob" Miller contributed to this report.