Preliminary primary election results show Senator Pramila Jayapal is leading the nine-way race for Washington’s 7th Congressional District seat with 42 percent of the vote, double that of runner-up Brady Piñero Walkinshaw.
As of 9:30 a.m. Monday, King County Elections reports Jayapal has received nearly 43 percent of the vote, meaning she will move on to the November general election. She will be joined in the fall by State Rep. Walkinshaw, who received 21.32 percent of the votes.
Jayapal said in a statement last week that she was thrilled with the victory and thanked the supporters of her movement.
“Our movement is a place that welcomes all … and we must do everything to keep it that way,” she said. “I want to help lead the important conversations that define who we are as a country—made stronger by our diversity. Together, we can and will tackle two of the most pressing issues of our times, climate change and income inequality.”
Walkinshaw and King County Council Chair Joe McDermott were neck and neck with around 21 percent of the votes each for much of the early race, but, as of Monday, McDermott had 19.42 percent of votes.
In a Friday night statement, McDermott said he was disappointed and “had deeply wanted to serve our district,” before congratualting Jayapal and Walkinshaw on their “positive and engaging primary campaign.”
Walkinshaw’s Friday statement included a thank-you to McDermott before diving into the issues of climate change, transportation and housing.
“This district demonstrated today that it is ready for a new generation in Congress, and I am honored to have the support of so many voters in this community,” Walkinshaw said in a news release.
The other six candidates: Republicans Scott Sutherland and Craig Keller, Democrats Arun Jhaveri and Donovan Rivers and independents Leslie Regier and Carl Cooper, all have less than 8 percent of votes each.
The seat is up for election due to longtime congressman Jim McDermott’s (no relation to Joe McDermott) retirement, which he announced in January after serving 14 terms (30 years).
The King County Elections website indicates voter turnout for this primary was forecast to be 37 percent. The forecast held true. In total, as of Monday morning, a total of 454,617 ballots had been returned — 37 percent of the 1,240,245 registered voters.
For District 7, which includes Seattle, Vashon Island, Edmonds, Shoreline, Kenmore, and parts of Burien and Normandy Park, 194,502 ballots of 455,197 registered voters had been returned — 43 percent.
Results will be certificated on Tuesday, August 16.
