Upthegrove led in early results with about 53% of the vote. Jaime Herrera Beutler had about 47%, after Tuesday’s first vote counts.
The elected leader of the Department of Natural Resources oversees nearly six million acres of state-owned public lands and the state firefighting force. Current Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz opted to run for the open 6th Congressional District seat. She placed third in the August primary.
Herrera Beutler and Upthegrove emerged from a crowded primary field that attracted five Democratic candidates and two Republicans.
Herrera Beutler won the primary with 22% of the vote.
With votes spilt between several Democratic candidates, Upthegrove squeaked past Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson by just 49 votes in the primary — both had 20.8% each. The tight margin between the two candidates prompted a hand recount.
Upthegrove, chair of the King County Council and former state legislator, has positioned himself as an environmentally focused candidate who will not succumb to industry pressures. His ideas include ensuring that legacy forests — mature forests that have naturally regrown after logging activity or other disturbances such as fire or landslide — are not cut for timber.
Washington Public Lands Commissioner candidate Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) speaks during a debate hosted by the Association of Washington Business at the Historic Davenport Hotel Grand Pennington Ballroom, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Spokane, Wash. (Young Kwak for Cascade PBS) (Young Kwak)
Herrera Beutler represented the 3rd Congressional District in southwest Washington from 2011 to 2022. She was primaried from the right in the 2022 congressional election after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
After a brief hiatus from politics, Herrera Beutler decided to run for the lands commissioner and tap into the knowledge she gained from crafting legislation related to forestry and natural resource issues.
Herrera Beutler feels the prevailing practice of letting forests grow to preserve habitat and species has resulted in decaying forests and rural communities missing out on much-needed revenue. She says science shows that removing unhealthy trees can contribute to forest health.
