Democrats lead the polls on the Eastside early even as the party lost major ground on a national level.
Incumbent Patty Kuderer (D-Clyde Hill) leads Michelle Darnell 73 percent to 26 percent in the 48th Representative Position 1 race, while incumbent Joan McBride (D-Kirkland) leads Benjamin Judah Phelps 75 percent to 24 percent for the Representative Position 2 race.
That race, along with several other tight legislative races around Washington could change the leadership in Olympia.
Kuderer spoke to the Reporter the morning after the election.
“I’m happy about my race,” she said. “I’m really honored and humbled by the support from the voters.”
Kuderer, an attorney, was appointed to her position after Ross Hunter left the State House of Representatives to head Washington’s Department of Early Learning. This was her first election.
“I’ve been working hard and it looks like that has paid off,” she said. “There is a lot that is facing the state and also the country, and it’s time for us to knuckle down and get to work.”
Kuderer said funding public education was far-and-away the most important issue in the upcoming legislative period. her goal was to bring up the state’s education levels without gutting those in the 48th District.
Nationally, Kuderer had much to say as well.
“We’ll have to wait to see what happens. It’s not the outcome I would have wanted, but [President-elect Donald Trump] is our president,” she said. “It would be helpful for all of us to unite and get behind our president. I think it shows that state politics are even more important. I’m not going to stand by and watch women’s reproductive rights be eroded further.”
Rep. McBride did not return a call before press time. Former mayor of Kirkland, McBride has been in office since 2015.
According to the Mercer Island Reporter, Democrats swept the 41st District House and Senate races.
Before the election, the Democrats had a two-seat lead in the state House (50-48), while the Republicans had a majority in the Senate (26-23). Whoever controls the Legislature will have to work with incumbent Gov. Jay Inslee, who is beating challenger Bill Bryant.
A statewide race with local implications swung toward Democrats as well. Cyrus Habib (D-Bellevue) has won the Lieutenant Governor’s race over Republican Marty McClendon with 55 percent of the statewide vote and nearly 72 percent of the vote in King County.
Habib recalled his inspiration to get involved in politics going back to his days on a Bellevue elementary school playground.
Habib, who is blind, was prevented from playing on the playground by school officials until his mother intervened. His bumps and bruises were a testament to his tenacity and the drive of strong women in his life, he said.
“No matter what happens nationally, I want us to follow Clinton’s lead, women like my mother’s lead,” Habib said. “You may slip and fall, but never give up.”
