State election candidates: The early birds

Many of the candidates get right down to business on the first day of filing.
Cascade PBS archive image.

Drop-off voting

Many of the candidates get right down to business on the first day of filing.

Perennial candidate Mike The Mover made his move Monday. He filed his candidacy against Democratic incumbent Suzan DelBene for the 1st Congressional District seat.

Her expected Republican opponent Pedro Celis of Redmond did not file Monday with the Washington Secretary of State's office, but he has until 5 p.m. Friday to do so.

Meanwhile, four Republicans and one Democrat filed Monday to compete for the 4th Congressional District seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, with more candidates expected later this week. The lone Democrat so far in this largely conservative district is Estakio Beltran of Richland. The Republicans are Dan Newhouse of the Yakima Valley, Clint Didier of Eltopia, George Cicotte of Kennewick and Kevin Midhurst of Richland.

However, no major surprises showed up Monday in the initial round of filings in Washington's elections, in which most of the attention will focus on the Congressional and state Senate races. Democrats — down 26-23 in the state Senate — need to capture two Majority Coalition Caucus seats to gain control of the Senate. The majority coalition consists of 24 Republicans and two Democrats.

Here are the more interesting Monday actions or non-actions in the legislative and congressional races:

Legislative races

  • 48th District, Medina plus chunks of Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond: This is the home to Sen. Rodney Tom, the Medina Democrat who joined the Republicans with fellow Democrat Tim Sheldon in 2012 to create the Majority Coalition Caucus, giving the GOP control of the Senate. But he recently dropped out of the race, citing family reasons. No Republican has publicly stepped up to take Tom's place. The anointed Democratic candidate Rep. Cyrus Habib, D-Kirkland, did not file on Monday.
  • 47th District, Auburn Covington, Renton: Incumbent Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, has not filed yet. No Democratic opponent has surfaced so far.
  • 45th District, Redmond and parts of Kirkland, Woodinville and Carnation: Incumbent Sen. Andy Hill, R- Redmond, filed Monday; his probable Democratic challenger Matt Isenhower didn't.
  • 44th District, Snohomish County from Lake Stevens to Mill Creek: Incumbent Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, filed Monday, but his probable Republican opponent Jim Kellett didn't.
  • 42nd District, more or less Whatcom County: Incumbent Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale filed Monday; his probable Democratic opponent Seth Fleetwood didn't.
  •  37th District, King County: No one has file yet for the seat held by Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, who is retiring. But it is expected to be a hot contest.
  • 35th District, Mason plus parts of Kitsap and Thurston counties: Incumbent Sen. Tim Sheldon, D- Potlatch and the only Democrat remaining in the Majority Coalition Caucus did not file Monday. His two expected opponents — Republicans Travis Couture and Democrat Irene Bowling — did file on Monday.
  • 31st District, northeastern Pierce County, southeastern King County: Incumbent Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, has announced she is seeking re-election, but did not file on Monday. Rep. Cathy Dahlquist, R-Enumclaw, and Democrat Lane Walthers, filed on Monday to run for the Senate seat Roach holds.
  • 30th District, northern Pierce and southern King counties: Mark Miloscia, a former Democratic state representative who just switched to the Republican Party, filed Monday. His probable Democrat opponent Shari Song, did not file Monday. They will compete to replaced Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, who is retiring.
  • 28th District, a major chunk of western and southern Piece County:  No one filed Monday for the Senate race. This is expected to be a race between Sen. Steve O'Ban, R-Tacoma, and Rep. Tami Green, D-Lakewood.
  • 26th District, southern Kitsap County:  Both incumbent Sen. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, and Democratic challenger Judy Arbogast of Olalla filed Monday.
  • 6th District, part of Spokane County: Incumbent Sen. Mike Baumgartner, R-Spokane, filed Monday. His likely Democratic challenger Rich Cowan did not file Monday.

Congressional races

  • 2nd Congressional District: Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen did not file Monday. Independent Mike LaPointe of Everett filed Monday.
  • 3rd Congressional District: Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Democratic challenger Bob Dingethal of Vancouver filed Monday.
  • 5th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers and independent Dave Wilson of Spokane filed Monday.
  • 6th Congressional District: Incumbent Democrat Derek Kilmer and independent W. "Greybeard" McPherson of Port Angeles filed Monday.
  • 7th Congressional District: Incumbent Democrat Jim McDermott did not filed Monday. Republican Scott Sutherland of Seattle and GoodSpaceGuy of the Work and Wealth Party filed Monday.
  • 8th Congressional District: No one filed Monday for the seat held by Republican Dave Reichert, which he will seek.
  • 9th Congressional District: Democratic incumbent Adam Smith filed Monday.
  • 10th Congressional District: Democratic incumbent Denny Heck and Republican Joyce McDonald of Puyallup filed Monday.
  

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About the Authors & Contributors

John Stang

John Stang

John Stang is a freelance writer who often covers state government and the environment. He can be reached on email at johnstang_8@hotmail.com and on Twitter at @johnstang_8