Election live updates for Washington state

After today, we will no longer be bringing you updates on this page but KNKX News, our Northwest News Network partners and NPR will continue to cover the outstanding races and important issues raised during the 2024 elections.

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As the results of the U.S. presidential race takes shape, Republican party leaders in Washington state are thrilled to see Donald Trump doing so well.

Todd Donovan, a political science professor at Western Washington University, said the mood is very different among his students - who are hoping for a Harris win.

"The expectation was this would be a potentially transformative election with a woman of color on the ballot, and the reality is it looks just like 2016 and 2020 again," Donovan said.

"We're not going to know for a few days, potentially, what the outcome is going to be and I think that's just going to lead to even more stress."

Donovan said aside from some of the close congressional races in Washington - the initiative races have stood out most to him.

Three of the four measures funded by Brian Heywood are failing.

🗳 Democrat Suzan DelBene wins reelection to U.S. House in Washington's 1st Congressional District.

🗳 Democrat Adam Smith wins reelection to U.S. House in Washington's 9th Congressional District.

Six other House seats remain to be called including the 3rd District in Southwest Washington, one of the nation's most closely watched races.

Mayowa Aina

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Photos courtesy of the candidates' campaigns.

Retired Seattle Police Officer Keith Swank is currently ahead of longtime sheriff's department employee Patti Jackson in the Pierce County Sheriff's race.

In the race for Pierce County Executive, Democrat Ryan Mello is ahead of Republican Kelly Chambers. See more Pierce County results.

Thomas Kienzle

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AP

State voter Initiative 2066, which seeks to overturn regulations that discourage the use of natural gas, may have found favor with voters, according to initial results. But it remains close with an estimated 56% of votes in.

Two of Let's Go Washington's four initiatives have been rejected by voters. A third, Initiative 2124, is behind:

Democrat Bob Ferguson has won his bid for governor. Here's where other key state executive races stand:

Three progressive candidates seeking to represent parts of Seattle on the city council and the state legislature celebrated early leads at a Capitol Hill election night event.

Among them was Seattle City Council candidate Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who is leading her race by more than 35,000 votes in the initial results.

"It's a bit of a contrast," said Nate Sanford, a Murrow News Fellow reporting from the event for KNKX and Cascade PBS.

"There's so much celebration here about the local races and the progressives doing so well. But kind of overshadowing all that is this nervousness about the presidential race, which is looking really, really unclear at this point, and possibly not the direction they would want to go."

Hear more from Nate below:

Democrat Rick Larsen wins reelection to U.S. House in Washington's 2nd Congressional District.

Democrat Pramila Jayapal wins reelection to U.S. House in Washington's 7th Congressional District.

Republicans have taken the Senate majority for first time in four years. The unexpected battleground of Nebraska pushed Republicans over the top late Tuesday.

More from The Associated Press

Voters said "no" to Initiative 2117, which would have repealed the state's Climate Commitment Act. They also rejected Initiative 2109 to repeal the capital gains tax.

See more live results.

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AP

Democrat Bob Ferguson won election as governor of Washington on Tuesday, defeating Republican former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert. Ferguson is the state's three-term attorney general.

He came to national prominence by repeatedly suing former President Donald Trump's administration, including bringing the lawsuit that blocked Trump's initial travel ban on citizens of several majority Muslim nations.

The campaign focused on public safety, with Ferguson saying he will direct money to help cities hire more police, as well as abortion rights and Trump's legacy. Washington has not had a Republican governor in nearly 40 years.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Washington's 12 electoral votes on Tuesday, besting former President Donald Trump in a state where he is not popular. Washington has not gone for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. President Joe Biden carried Washington in 2020 with 58% of the vote to Trump's less than 39%.

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AP

Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell won a fifth term in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Republican emergency room doctor Raul Garcia and holding a seat that was considered safe. Cantwell took about 58% of the vote in the August top-two primary to Garcia's roughly 21%. Cantwell, a former tech executive, stressed her work to promote businesses in Washington, protect the environment and lower taxes for middle-income residents.

Elections officials in King County, which includes Seattle, are livestreaming the election process. It’s part of an effort to increase transparency and counter false claims of widespread fraud.

The live election cams cover the Elections Service Center, warehouse, drop box sorting, signature verification, ballot opening, ballot review and scanning and tabulation steps. Learn more about the path ballots take in Washington state:

Voters in Seattle ushered in a more conservative city council a year ago. A special election is giving residents an opportunity to weigh in on how that new majority is doing.

Tanya Woo currently represents the council's citywide position 8 seat. She's facing progressive challenger Alexis Mercedes Rink.

Woo is a lifelong Seattleite from a family of small business owners. She ran for city council last year and lost. Two months later, the newly elected moderate majority appointed her to fill a vacancy. As the appointment comes to an end, Woo is now hoping to retain her seat.

Mercedes Rink identifies herself as a renter and a transit rider. She has experience doing policy analysis work for the King County Regional Homeless Authority and the Sound Cities Association.

Whoever is elected could play a role in deciding if the city seeks new taxes, or cuts, as it works to balance an annual $250 million budget deficit, and they will have to run again in 2025.

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KNKX

It takes a team to bring you the news.

KNKX reporter Bellamy Pailthorp is at the Seattle Convention Center following the action with the Washington Democrats. Our Olympia Correspondent Jeanie Lindsay is also reporting from there.

Across Lake Washington, KNKX reporter Freddy Monares is in Bellevue with the Washington state Republicans at their watch party.

KNKX Murrow News Fellow Nate Sanford is also in the field, at an event for Seattle City Council candidate Alexis Mercedes Rinck.

Listen for their reporting on air and online tonight and tomorrow.

Small businesses, those with fewer than 500 employees, make up 99.5% of Washington companies and employ 49% of the population.

KNKX spoke with two small business owners running for the state legislature.

Cam Severns, a Democrat running for House District 25, said he wants lawmakers to understand that there’s a big difference between a company with 500 employees and one with only a handful, like his insurance company.

“I believe that small businesses are what actually drives our economy at the local level, and kind of ripples out from there,” said Mark Herr, a Republican and small business owner running in House District 28.

With all 98 House seats and roughly half the Senate seats on the ballot, this election also means a makeover for the state legislature. And a chance more small business owners will bring their perspective to Olympia in January.

At 6:45 p.m., the Seattle Police Department reported a protest making its way through Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

SPD posted on X that it had made four arrests for property damage.

Update: As of 7:17 p.m. SPD reported the group had broken up and a total of five arrests.

🗳 View live election results for key contests in Washington. First results should be posted around 8:15 p.m. and be updated daily.

🏁 Key races to watch...

Senate: Maria Cantwell (Dem) vs. Raul Garcia (GOP)

Governor: Bob Ferguson (Dem) vs. Dave Reichert (GOP)

3rd Congressional District: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Dem) vs. Joe Kent (GOP)

8th Congressional District: Kim Schrier (Dem) vs. Carmen Goers (GOP)

Ballot Measure 2117: Prohibit carbon tax credit trading

Ballot Measure 2066: Ensure access to natural gas

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KNKX

With dog Charlie in tow, Liz Stead, 58, dropped her ballot off. She felt more anxious than ever about this election.

“I'm excited to vote. I always vote. I love that, but very nervous. I just don't know what's going to happed,”she said.

Stead was worried about many issues, but she wanted a government that supported people, especially on reproductive rights and maintaining democracy.

“I'm really concerned that there is a move within the Republican Party to dismantle government and not have as many benefits available for all of us,” she said.

Since being elected in 2018, Democrat Kim Schrier has faced competitive races to keep her seat in Washington’s expansive 8th Congressional District. This election is no different.

She's facing a challenge from Republican Carmen Goers, a commercial banker who ran unsuccessfully for a state House position in 2022. As of late October, Schrier had raised “more than 20 times the cash” than Goer’s campaign.

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KNKX Graphic

Washington’s 8th Congressional district is vast. It covers large parts of Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. It also reaches east over the Cascade Range to Chelan and Kittitas counties, where much of the state’s fruit and hay are grown.

It’s unique in that it spans rural and urban areas, meaning issues range from agricultural concerns to crime and safety.

Read more: Farm bill, fundraising shape one of WA’s most competitive congressional races

Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer decided not to run for re-election after just one tumultuous term in office.

Now, voters are deciding between the two options to take over from him sheriff’s department Chief of Patrol Patti Jackson and retired Seattle Police Officer Keith Swank.

At a September fundraiser for Jackson, Tacoma small business owner Linda Jadwin said she’s supporting Jackson because of Troyer’s divisiveness.

“I think that’s a bad precedent. I’m done with men running, because we’ve been run into the ground. So we need girls. We need women. I’m just tired of it,” Jadwin said.

Jackson is endorsed by Troyer. She would be the first woman to lead the Pierce County Sheriff’s department if elected.

Her opponent, Swank, is running as the change candidate. He said the department needs an outside perspective to make the changes necessary to move on from Troyer.

As sheriff, Troyer was prosecuted in 2022 on false reporting charges after he called 911 on a newspaper carrier whom he claimed threatened to kill him. Troyer was acquitted and has decided to retire from the department after 39 years.

He was also placed on the Brady list which cast doubt on his credibility and often picked fights with his political enemies on social media.

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KNKX

Jemma Fagler, 28, from Seattle, is nervous but grateful to be able to vote. “I think everything that is at stake, both locally, statewide, and on the national scale.”

She is worried about how democracy will continue to play out or not play out based on which candidate
will win.

"Not only who will win, but how the country will react to who will win,” she said.

Fagler voted for Kamala Harris for president and Bob Ferguson for governor and voted against initiatives to repeal or revise WA Cares and the Climate Commitment Act.

“That was like a really big issue for me, and the efforts to repeal those are really scary, but I'm hopeful that Washington voters will be supportive of continuing to protect our environment and the beautiful state that we live in."

After relocating with her partner from Florida, Fagler believes that Washington is less contested but not immune.

“I've seen these political issues play out on a kind of very personal level, it's scary to think about," she said.

Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands runs the state Department of Natural Resources which manages nearly 6 million acres of public lands.

This includes everything from coastal waters and aquatic reserves, to working forests, farms, recreation areas and commercial developments — making this a high profile position as the state navigates the modern timber industry, climate change and budget shortfalls.

After the primary ended in a recount, Democrat Dave Upthegrove is facing off against Republican Jamie Herrera Beutler. He’s the chair of the King County Council; she’s a former congresswoman from Southwest Washington.

The current Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz did not run for re-election and instead launched a campaign for the 6th Congressional District, but did not make it past the primary.

Federal law enforcement in Seattle says it has observed an uptick in threats related to Election Day. This includes a broader range of threats compared to 2020, from acts of violence, to cyber attacks, to "foreign influence operations" that aim to spread misinformation online.

“Among the most prominent is threats to election facilities and election workers. So we're certainly prioritizing those,” said Greg Austin, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's election safety command center in Seattle.

The agency activated election centers at its 55 field offices across the country to prepare for this week’s election and to respond quickly to any threats that emerge.

Read more.

One of the largest property tax levies in Seattle’s history could be approved today.

Proposition 1 would raise $1.5 billion for transportation projects over the next eight years. The money would go towards road and bridge repairs, bike lanes, traffic signals, sidewalks and more.

Kirk Hovenkotter is the executive director of the Transportation Choices Coalition – the advocacy group has been a lead backer of Proposition 1. He said the improvements would be felt by everyone.

“Seattle residents are going to have an easier walk to the grocery store, an easier bike ride to a healthcare appointment. They’re going to have an easier time with school pickup and drop off. And they’re going to see bridges and roads that work,” Hovenkotter said.

Alex Pedersen is the former chair of Seattle City Council’s transportation committee. He thinks Prop 1 is too expensive. He wants the city council to come back with a narrower levy focused on basic repairs.

“We want to be careful to balance the scarce transportation dollars in a way that serves the most people. And repaving and sidewalks and bridges serve the most people,” Pedersen said.

If Prop 1 is approved, property owners would pay about twice what they’re paying now for the expiring transportation levy – about $500 a year for a median-valued Seattle home.

If you haven't yet voted in the General Election and you still need to register, you can do so, in person today.

County election offices statewide are open to help you register or provide replacement ballots.

Pierce County's Auditor reports lines at the county's Voting Center at 2401 South 35th Street. That facility will be open until 8 p.m.

8 p.m. is also the deadline for getting your ballot into a drop-box.

In a statement, Auditor Linda Farmer said those boxes are being emptied regularly and monitored closely.

More information from Washington's Secretary of State.

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KNKX

Like many voters, Rhoda Altom, 67, was feeling “a little nervous” about the elections. But she had a huge smile on her face.

“I'll be glad when they're over, and I'm hoping that people look at sanity and think about how important democracy is when they vote,” she said.

Altom hopes to see a more bipartisan approach return to politics and the country.

"It seems like we've gone very far left and very far right, and I would love to see us come back to the middle and make sure that everyone has a good voice and feels like they're part of this country," She said.

She is also worried about immigration saying, "I hope we need immigrants to fill out jobs, and I hope we can find a happy medium that everyone embraces in this country, instead of the division.”

In a truly partisan act, Altom voted for Kamala Harris for president and Dave Reichert for governor. She hopes Reichert will help make housing affordable even though she hopes that Washington still maintains reproductive rights.

"I obviously want to make sure that we're a pro-choice state, but I don't know. I think Dave Reichert is pretty balanced. I sat with him on an airplane once.”

Parker Miles Blohm

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KNKX

Valerie Curtis Newton, 61, feels very optimistic about the general election.

"I feel it's an act of faith. And my father-in-law says you can't pray and worry. I've already prayed, so I'm not worried,” she told KNKX Monday while dropping off her ballot.

Curtis Newton voted mostly Democratic, not just for the presidency but also down the ballot.

“I want them to have a team that they can work with who's interested in finding good, common sense middle ground.”

She was also worried about other issues, such as Initiative 2124, which would give Washingtonians the chance to opt out of the state's long-term care program.

“I'm very concerned about how we assist people in their aging, and that's another reason why I'm voting for Kamala Harris, is because the idea of managed care at home being paid for by Medicare feels like a really smart policy choice to me.”

Everett voters are deciding this election if the Snohomish River should have legal rights – to exist, regenerate and flourish.

Initiative 2403 is on their ballots – and if it passes, anyone who negatively impacts those rights could be taken to court and held liable for damages.

The money would be paid to the City of Everett for restoration of the watershed.

According to the Everett Herald, the initiative is part of a growing ‘rights of nature’ movement to grant legal standing to species and ecosystems that can’t speak for themselves.

It’s a project of the Standing for Washington political action committee.

Opponents say the initiative’s language would encourage frivolous lawsuits.

Washington state voters can track their ballots at VoteWa.gov. There’s also an option to sign up for text alerts.

Here’s how you can follow along:

Listen to live special coverage from NPR starting 4 p.m P.T. today. There's a lot of ways to listen:

• Click the green play button above to tune in online.
• Download the KNKX app to listen on the go.
• Listen using your smart speaker.

Check back here for live updates from Seattle, Tacoma and Washington state. Read the latest updates on races across the country on the NPR live blog.

And tune in to Morning Edition on KNKX tomorrow. We will be there for you delivering next day insights and analysis.

"As pumpkins popped up on the Western Washington University campus, and people dressed up as bears and witches grabbed their morning coffee, Bellingham officially embraced Halloween last Thursday. But some voters in Bellingham were preparing to face their worst fears, from a different source — the results of today’s general election.

With a too-close-to-call presidential race and divisive issues on the Washington state ballot, some voters from Whatcom and Skagit County said on the Western campus and at Makeworth Coffee Roasters that they felt nervous about Election Day."

Read more from our friends at Salish Current, which provides independent, fact-based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit Counties.

Joseph Wolf, 25, from the Hillman City neighborhood of Seattle, casted a protest vote for Jill Stein.

While dropping off his ballot Monday, Wolf said he voted but is not very focused on the elections. “It's not something that I'm thinking about a ton. I'm not like, gonna be watching stuff tomorrow, probably.”

He said he feels very strongly against Donald Trump but also doesn't feel super strongly toward Kamala Harris."I am voting, but not voting? Yeah, I don't know. I'm focused on Palestine, which was kind of my biggest issue this year," Wolf said.

He feels that the Democrats don't understand young voters or believe they can care about different issues.

"And I think the Democratic Party has become so centralized, like so central now that I think it's disenfranchising a lot of younger voters,” he said.

Wolf said it might have been different if he lived in a swing state, but Washington State is considered a guaranteed win for the Democrats. “I'm gonna use that to protest, and hopefully we can see, they can see what some of those people are feeling a certain way about the Democratic Party.”

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KNKX

Many voters in Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood said they feel worried and anxious about the elections this year, but not everyone felt that way while dropping off their ballots Monday.

Qua Nguin, 63, who lives in Seattle, is very happy about the election and the economy.

He said , “Everybody have a job, have inflation go down, everything you know. That's why I'm happy for America.”

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AP

Among the nation’s most closely watched races is a rematch in southwestern Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, where first-term Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is defending her seat against Republican Joe Kent, a former Green Beret who has called for the impeachment of President Joe Biden.

Other notable campaigns in the state include the 8th Congressional District and the 4th Congressional District in central Washington.

Read More

Many people say they feel worried and anxious about the elections this year. KNKX spoke with voters dropping off their ballots in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood on Monday, where the presidential race was top of mind for most.

Riley Toher, 30, said she is among those who feels anxious about this year's election.

“I would say a lot of my friends... family feel the same way. It's just, it just feels really anxiety, right? And I think just for a lot of reasons, primarily surrounding the presidential election,” Toher said.

Although she feels that reproductive rights aren't a major issue for Washingtonians, Toher still sees it as a very important national issue.

“It's something I feel really strongly about, more broadly and across the nation, and it's something that, again, thinking about other women in my life, has activated them to be more engaged in politics,” Toher said.

Local issues were at the top of her mind while filling out her ballot.

“The proposition around funding for public schools. That was something that was really motivating for me. Just thinking about where I am in my life right now and wanting to have kids.”

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KNKX

Francis Maile, 61, lives in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle.

Maile told KNKX he’s worried about the election in general.

“One of our candidates wants to make things better; the other one wants to make things better for things better for a tiny group of people and horrible for everybody else. That’s how I see it.”

Candidates Campaigns

Two state Senators are hoping to represent Washington's 6th Congressional District.

Republican Drew MacEwen and Democrat Emily Randall are vying to represent the area that covers the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, along with parts of Tacoma.

U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer is retiring after serving the area for more than a decade. He currently serves on the House appropriations committee.

Robin Jacobson is a political science professor at the University of Puget Sound. She said Kilmer's exit will create a vacuum for the district in Congress.

“It is not likely that either first year congress people will get appointed to such a powerful committee, and that will be a big difference to the 6th District,” Jacobson told KNKX.

Jacobson said whoever wins the race will also vacate important positions at the state level.

MacEwen is a ranking Republican on the environment, energy and technology committee, and has served on the appropriations committee, where the state budget gets crafted.

Randall is a Deputy Leader with Senate Democrats, and chairs the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.

Derek Kilmer, a Democrat, has represented the district since 2012.

See all of KNKX’s Election 2024 coverage.

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KNKX

The only open sheriff’s race on the ballot in Washington is in Pierce County. Longtime sheriff’s department employee Patti Jackson is running against retired Seattle Police Officer Keith Swank.

Frank Grubaugh is a retired fire commissioner on Key Peninsula. At a candidate forum on Key Peninsula in September, he said he was impressed with Jackson’s experience at the department and put off by Swank.

“She’s well thought out, she’s been with the sheriff’s department. And her opponent was bragging about being stabbed and shot and all those things,” Grubaugh said.

At the same forum, retiree Tim Kezele said he liked Swank’s experience in the military and as a Seattle police officer but said he’s planning to vote for Jackson because of her local experience and he wants to support a woman in the office.

Either way, Kezele said he’s ready to replace current Sheriff Ed Troyer.

“We need a new sheriff in town, for sure. I think he just kind of wore out his welcome,” he said.

The race could be tight. Just over 1,200 votes separated candidates Jackson and Swank in the August primary. Both candidates have raised about $125,000.

More about the candidates in this wide open sheriff’s race.

Washington State Democrats and Latino leaders are blasting the state GOP for inflammatory text messages sent in Spanish that went out to voters in a Yakima Valley legislative district over the weekend.

The text messages said three Latina candidates hate their constituents, God and the truth and make false claims that Democrats support chemical castration of minors without their parents' permission.

The message refers to a state law meant to expand protections for runaways seeking abortions, reproductive medicine and gender-affirming care.

The text name Maria Beltran who is running for the state Senate seat in District 14. That district was recently redrawn after a judge ruled a previous map diluted the voting power of Latino voters in the Yakima Valley.

“Washington State Republican Party decided to lie and is trying to confuse the voters,” Beltran said in Spanish.

In a statement to KNKX, the State GOP chair, Jim Walsh, doubled down and reiterated the false claims.

State Democrats and Republicans will be converging at their respective official election night shindigs. Where will you spend tomorrow evening?

Will you take in Election Night on the big screen with other Tacomans at The Grand? At Town Hall Seattle with a group of independent Seattle journalists? Or at the Royal Room where election night coverage will be accompanied by live jazz?

Or, maybe, you’ll be tuned in to special coverage on KNKX from the comfort of your own home (sounds cozy!).

Let us know your Election Night plans at outreach@knkx.org!

Gov. Jay Inslee issued a statement that he is activating some Washington National Guard members to be on stand-by to support local law enforcement and the Washington State Patrol during election week.

The governor has given Major General Gent Welsh the authority to determine how many members of the Guard will be activated.

In a press press release, Inslee’s office said this is a precautionary measure. It’s in response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s nationwide warnings regarding threats to election infrastructure.

The Governor’s office said Guard members will be on stand-by for four days, beginning Monday and ending just after midnight on Thursday next week.

Lindsey Wasson

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AP

Voters in Washington will cast ballots for president, governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House, as well as several state and local offices and ballot measures. Most of those votes will be cast before Election Day because the state votes almost entirely by mail.

Polls and drop boxes close at 8 p.m. PT. In 2020, the first votes were reported at 8:13 p.m. PT. By midnight that year, about 81% of total votes case were reported, according to AP.

As of Oct. 1, there were 5.4 million registered voters in the state. Over 2.8 million voters had returned their ballots before Election Day.

The Washington State Democrats will hold their Election Night Party at the Seattle Arch Convention Center in downtown. Across Lake Washington, the Washington State Republican Party will gather at the Hyatt in Bellevue.