The early election results in Washington state are favorable for progressives

The first results of election night — when perhaps 60% of all expected ballots will be counted in the Washington state election — are in, and progressives are off to a fast start. The state appears poised to potentially reject all four statewide Republican-backed initiatives to repeal progressive laws. Urbanist-backed Shaun Scott and Alexis Mercedes Rinck are well above their more conservative opponents. Urbanist Ryan Mello is ahead in early results for Pierce County Executive.

Counts will continue in the coming weeks, with daily counts typically released after 4 p.m. The Urbanist Elections Committee endorsed a long list of races and measures.

Republicans are lashing out across the country

• In the initial results, initiative measure No. 2066 is only slightly behind. (Note: Some counties may lag behind in reporting initial returns.)
• Initiative measure No. 2109 is lagging behind in terms of initial results. “No” has 63% to 36% for “Yes”.
• Initiative measure No. 2117 is lagging behind in terms of initial results. “No” has 62% to 37% for “Yes”.
• Initiative measure No. 2124 is lagging behind in terms of initial results. “No” has 56% to 55% for “Yes.”
• Governor: Democrat Bob Ferguson is well ahead of Republican Dave Reichert, 57% to 43%.
• Attorney General: Democrat Nick Brown (endorsed) leads Republican Pete Serrano 56% to 43%.
• Lands Commissioner: Dave Upthegrove (endorsed) has a 53% to 46% lead over Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler.

Prop 1 and Rinck Coast in Seattle

• Seattle Proposition #1: Yes (supported) rose sharply, up 66.8% to just 33.2% No. Seattle's $1.55 billion transportation levy is nearing passage.
• Seattle City Council 8: Alexis Mercedes Rinck (supported) leads Tanya Woo 57% to 42%, with 56% turnout so far.

LD10 and LD26 could give Democrats supermajorities

• LD10 Senate: Democrat Janet St. Clair leads Republican incumbent Ron Muzzall 56% to 44%. This will be a state Senate seat gain for Democrats unless there is a reversal.
• LD14: Republicans have made big gains in all races, dashing hopes for a Democratic foothold in the Yakima Valley.
• LD26-1: Democrat Adison Richards leads Republican Jesse Young 52% to 47%. This looks like a victory for the Democrats in the House of Representatives.
• LD26-2: Democrat Tiffany Mitchell trails Republican incumbent Michelle Caldier 45% to 54%.
• LD-27-2: Devin Rydel Kelly (supported) trails incumbent Jake Fey 21% to 77%.
• LD43-2: Shaun Scott (assisted) has a 67% to 31% lead over Andrea Suarez.
• LD45-2: Melissa Demyan (endorsed) is at 41%, trailing incumbent Democrat Larry Springer at 56%.

Mello leads in Pierce County

• Pierce County Executive: Urbanist-backed Democrat Ryan Mello has 51% to 48% more votes than Republican Kelly Chambers.
• Pierce County Council D2: Democrat Davida Haygood (endorsed) trails incumbent Paul Herrera 42% to 57%.
• Pierce County Council D3: Democrat John Linboe (endorsed) trails incumbent Amy Cruver 36% to 63%.
• Pierce County Council D6: Democratic incumbent Jani Hitchen (endorsed) leads Republican Loujanna “LJ” Rohrer 52% to 47%.

Tight race for state Supreme Court

• Democratic-backed Sal Mungia leads the state Supreme Court by a razor-thin margin of 49.84% to 49.66% over Conservative-backed Dave Larsen, Position 2.

This is a developing story and we will update if we missed any relevant races.

Doug Trumm is editor of The Urbanist. He has been writing about urbanism since 2015, dreaming of pedestrianizing streets, blanketing the city with bus lanes, and sparking a massive timber construction boom to end the affordable housing shortage and avert our coming climate catastrophe. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2019. He lives in East Fremont and loves exploring the city by bike.