Inslee wins 3rd term as governor

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has become the first incumbent elected to a third term in Washington state in more than 40 years, beating Republican challenger Loren Culp.

Inslee, who briefly ran for president last year, has been a frequent critic of Republican President Donald Trump, especially his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Culp, police chief of the small town of Republic, campaigned in part against Inslee’s coronavirus restrictions like mandatory masks, saying they infringe on people’s constitutional rights.

In initial results posted by the state’s 39 counties, Inslee had about 60 percent of the vote.

Inslee said that the results were not only a huge honor but “a big decision that the people of the state Washington made tonight.”

“They made a decision to continue on the path of progress, to continue to follow and honor science, to continue to defeat the covid pandemic and continue to be committed to building a more resilient economy,” he said.

Speaking to supporters in Tenino, Culp refused to concede.

“We are going to wait until these people have their voices heard,’’ Culp said of the ballots that remained to be counted.

Washington voters weighed in on other races, including more than 60 percent voting in favor of Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden over Republican President Donald Trump.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, Democratic U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, who is retiring from Congress, was leading fellow Democratic Sen. Marko Liias with 47 percent of the vote. They are vying to succeed current Democratic Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib, who started unpaid leave in September as he started training in California to be a Jesuit priest.

All 10 of the state’s U.S. House seats are on the ballot, but Heck’s 10th Congressional District seat is the only one without an incumbent seeking another two-year term. Democrats currently hold seven of the state’s congressional seats, and Republicans hold three.

In the 10th congressional district, former Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland was leading state Rep. Beth Doglio with just over 50 percent of the vote.

In addition to governor and lieutenant governor, voters were deciding seven other statewide elected offices, and the Democratic incumbents in the offices of attorney general, auditor, insurance commissioner and lands commissioner were all easily leading their Republican challengers. In the nonpartisan race for the Superintendent of Public Instruction, incumbent Chris Reykdal — who received just 40 percent of the vote in the August primary — was beating Maia Espinoza with nearly 57 percent of the vote.

In the only two statewide positions held by Republicans, incumbent Secretary of State Kim Wyman was leading Democratic state Rep. Gael Tarleton with nearly 52 percent of the vote and incumbent Treasurer Duane Davidson was losing to Democratic state Rep. Mike Pellicciotti, who had captured nearly 56 percent of the vote in early returns.

All 98 state House seats and 26 of the Senate’s 49 seats are being decided by voters as well. Accounting for a Democrat who caucuses with Republicans, Democrats hold a 28-21 majority in the Senate and a 57-41 edge in the House.