By Sean Robinson | Editor in Chief
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Washington state Democrats gather in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and await the midterm results. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard)
Buoyant Democrats were on course Tuesday to strengthen their grip on power in the Washington state House.
But the caucus is poised to lose its longest-serving member, and a series of intraparty battles could unseat incumbents in both legislative chambers. Meanwhile several incumbent Republicans are staving off stiff challenges. Numerous races deserve a close eye through the week as votes continue to be counted.
Democrats are seeking to widen their majorities in Olympia. They already run the show with a 59-39 majority in the House and 30-19 in the Senate. But this election will help them inch closer to a two-thirds supermajority, at least in the lower chamber.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, speaks to supporters at an election night party in Vancouver, Washington on Nov. 3, 2026. Results released Tuesday showed Gluesenkamp Perez leading Republican state Sen. John Braun in the 3rd Congressional District contest (Photo by Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)
Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez enjoyed a comfortable lead over Republican state Sen. John Braun on Tuesday, as she pursues a third term and her party seeks the House majority.
Gluesenkamp Perez led Braun by a margin of 55% to 44.1%, a sign she had not lost support of progressive Democrats who shunned her in the August primary. Her performance comes amid a cascade of Democrat wins nationwide that secured the House majority for her party heading into next year.
“It’s clear we’re going to win this race,” she said in a statement. “Thank you to everybody who knocked on doors in wet socks, who made the calls, wrote the postcards, and had the difficult conversations with their neighbors.”
Voters on Tuesday were upholding Washington’s new income tax on households earning more than a million dollars a year, a threshold opponents argued would eventually be lowered to apply to everyone.
Initiative 645 to repeal the high-earners tax was failing by an overwhelming margin, 58% to 42%. It lacked support in the state’s most populous counties on both sides of the state.
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