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Republican incumbent Rep. Sam Low of District 39 House Position 1 is poised to take on Republican challenger Robert Sutherland in the November general election, according to updated election results.
As of Thursday at 5 p.m., Low had 35.95% of the vote in Skagit County compared to Sutherland’s 30.55%, with more than 6,000 ballots counted, according to updated preliminary results.
The general election race will be a repeat of when the two Republicans challenged each other in 2022.
Low said Tuesday night that even though his campaign was in a strong position, there were still more ballots to count.
“I definitely think in a four-person race, we had a really strong showing and I’m encouraged that the voters have put such a strong emphasis on my race,” he said.
Sutherland said Tuesday night with more ballots to be counted, he was looking forward to seeing if he could close the gap between himself and Low.
“Overall I’m happy,” he said. “It could have been better, but it could have been worse.”
The two other challengers for District 39 Position 1, Kathryn Lewandowsky and Zephaniah Borynack, have 13.81% and 19.56% of the vote respectively, according to preliminary results in Skagit County.
Lewandowsky, who registered as an Independent, was sad on Tuesday that she wasn’t able to make it through to the general election.
“It’s not anything I didn’t expect,” she said. “I’m kicking myself for not waiting until the last day, I’m kicking myself for not checking the [Democrat] box. But at least I can stand tall in my beliefs and I didn’t try to hide who I am from the voters.”
Borynack had to be told by a reporter Wednesday morning what the preliminary results of the race were since he hadn’t had time to see them.
“I didn’t do any campaigning,” he said, noting this was the first time he ran for public office and did not know about many parts of the process, such as filing campaign finance reports. “When I put my name on the ballot, I didn’t think I’d get anywhere. I wanted to see what would happen.”
In Snohomish County — District 39 encompasses portions of Skagit and Snohomish counties — Low leads with 39.44% of the vote, while Sutherland has 26.7% of the vote, according to preliminary results, with 25,000 ballots having been counted so far. Borynack has 19.33% of the vote while Lewandowsky trails with 14.43% of the vote.
With only two people seeking election for Position 2, it was no secret newcomer Jackie Huey, a Republican, would face Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan.
Eslick leads the preliminary returns with 62.03% of the vote while Huey has nabbed 34.58% with 5,000 ballots having been counted in Skagit County. Around 3% of the vote went to write-in candidates.
Eslick also leads in Snohomish County with 66% of the vote while Huey has 30.36% of the vote, according to preliminary election results with 22,000 ballots having been counted so far in that county.
Eslick said Tuesday night she was “very, very, very, very thrilled and happy” by the results.
“I’ve always said if you are doing your job, campaigning is easy because we’re transparent and people can see what we do,” she said.
Huey did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
The incumbents told CDN in June that they hoped their records in Olympia would be enough to keep them in their seats. Low has a track record of working across the aisle to get bills passed in his first term, while Eslick has been focused on supporting women and families in her three terms.
The Position 1 and 2 races set up an interesting intraparty battle between the more “mainstream Republicans” — in this case Eslick and Low — and their more conservative challengers. Both incumbents have been censured by county Republican parties because of their support for House Bill 2368, a law created to support resources for immigrants and refugees.
Huey told CDN in June that she wanted to rein in spending by lawmakers in Olympia while Sutherland is focused on election security.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
