2026 General Election Results Report

Washington State  |  Unofficial election-night count, as of Wednesday, November 4, 2026  |  Prepared by Lobby Washington

Friends,

Washington voters had their say on Tuesday, and the first count is in: nearly 2 million ballots from all 39 counties.   wanted to make sure you had a clear picture of where things stand and what it means for us heading into the 2027 session, because the results point to a more challenging environment for us in Olympia, where Democrats appear to be on the verge of a House supermajority. Below is our read on the national picture, Washington’s congressional races, the statewide and local ballot measures, the Supreme Court, and the Legislature. Every number here is unofficial. Ballots postmarked by Election Day are still arriving, close races can move several points, and counties certify on November 24. Full race-by-race results follow.

The bottom line:

• A supermajority is likely. Democrats are on track for 68 of 98 House seats, past the two-thirds line, and 31 of 49 in the Senate.
• The income tax survived. I-645 is failing by 16 points, and supporters will read that as a green light for more revenue.
• We need you engaged now. About 27 new lawmakers are headed to Olympia, and early relationships will matter more than ever.

National News and Trends

Tuesday was a wave election for Democrats, and the Washington Post called it a Republican wipeout. Democrats won control of both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, only the fifth time since World War II that a party has flipped both chambers in a midterm. As of Wednesday, they held 54 Senate seats to 44, with two still too close to call, and roughly 255 to 258 House seats. With President Trump’s approval near 38% and nearly nine in ten voters citing the cost of living, the results were a sharp rebuke of the administration, though the President said he does not see them as a rejection of his leadership.

In practical terms, the President will be working with a Democratic Congress for his final two years. More important for us, the same blue wave that swept Congress carried straight down the ballot into Washington State. Democrats here already held commanding majorities in both the House and Senate, within striking distance of supermajorities, and Tuesday pushed them further, with the House now on the verge of crossing that two-thirds line.

Washington’s Congressional Races

NBC News projects Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) defeats Senate Republican Leader John Braun (R) in the 3rd District, 55.0% to 44.2%. If the result holds, Braun returns to Olympia as Senate Minority Leader, since his state Senate seat was not on the ballot this year.

In Eastern Washington’s 5th District, Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R) leads Democrat Carmela Conroy (D) by just 1,857 votes, the closest race there in a generation.

In the open 4th, Amanda McKinney (R) leads John Duresky (D) 54.1% to 45.7%, and every other incumbent leads comfortably.

Washington Ballot Initiatives

Statewide. Voters split the three Let’s Go Washington initiatives.

• I-645 (income tax repeal): FAILING, 41.9% Yes to 58.1% No. If this holds, the 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million stays on track for 2028, and it would be the first time since 1932 that Washington voters have sided with an income tax. Expect supporters in Olympia to read the result as a green light for further progressive revenue. The fight now moves to the courts, where a constitutional challenge led by former Attorney General Rob McKenna argues the tax violates the state’s 1933 precedent treating income as property.
• I-638 (girls’ school sports): PASSING, 56.8% to 43.2%. It requires middle and high school athletes to compete based on sex at birth, with verification on the sports physical. Washington would join roughly two dozen states with similar rules, and opponents are hoping late ballots and possible litigation change the outcome.
• I-001 (Parents’ Bill of Rights): FAILING, 47.3% Yes to 52.8% No. The Legislature’s 2025 revisions stay in place.

KUOW summed up the result well: socially conservative and fiscally liberal. Voters kept the income tax by 16 points while passing the sports measure by 13.

Tacoma: Safe Homes for All (Measure 1): PASSING. Tacoma voters are approving the Tacoma for All initiative 59.5% to 40.5%, a margin of 10,199 votes out of about 56,000 ballots cast, according to Pierce County’s election-night report. The measure requires the city to investigate tenant complaints, sets a minimum $500 penalty per violation (up to five times monthly rent), adds a per-unit rental license fee, and requires landlords to bargain in good faith with tenant unions. Landlord and real estate groups spent more than $850,000 against it, a Tacoma record. The city manager has estimated implementation could cost $8 million to $10 million a year. Supporters expect it to take effect when the election is certified.

Bellingham: Rent-Pricing Ban (Initiative 26-01): PASSING. Bellingham voters are approving Initiative 26-01, 81% to 19%. The measure, from Community First Whatcom, bans algorithmic rent-pricing software and agreements between landlords to set rents, with city fines and whistleblower protections for tenants and employees. The City Council endorsed it; the Whatcom County Association of Realtors argued it was poorly drafted and duplicates existing antitrust law. Two other city measures also passed.

Together, Tacoma and Bellingham show tenant-protection measures continuing to win at the local level, and supporters will point to them as momentum for statewide tenant and housing legislation this session.

Washington Supreme Court

Five of the nine seats were on the ballot. Candidates backed by the governor and Democratic leaders lead comfortably in four of them: Justices Colleen Melody and Theo Angelis, Chief Justice Debra Stephens, and Judge Jaime Hawk in the open Position 3.

The exception is the open Position 4, the most expensive court race of the year. King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell leads Court of Appeals Judge Ian Birk 50.9% to 48.7%, about 40,000 votes. O’Donnell drew support from moderate Democrats, including former Govs. Gregoire and Locke, and the business community; Birk was backed by Gov. Ferguson, Attorney General Brown, labor, and the trial bar. Late ballots have often favored progressive-backed court candidates, so this one will take days to settle.

The stakes are high. The new court is likely to decide the income tax challenge and the HB 1217 rent control lawsuit. Of the five candidates in our voter guide, only Sean O’Donnell currently leads, which makes Position 4 the race to watch as late ballots come in.

Washington State Legislature

Democrats came into the night with a 59 to 39 House majority and a 30 to 19 Senate majority. Both are on track to grow, and the House may reach a two-thirds supermajority.

House. Democrats lead in nine Republican-held seats:

• 17th and 18th (Clark County): all four seats, with Ben Christly, Diana Perez, Randi Knott, and Deken Letinich leading
• 14th (Yakima Valley): both seats, with Chelsea Dimas and Ezequiel Morfin leading
• 12th: Stacy Willoughby leads Rep. Brian Burnett
• 26th (open): Renee Hernandez Greenfield leads Katy Cornell
• 25th: David Berg leads Rep. Michael Keaton by 606 votes

If those leads hold, House Democrats would have 68 seats, past the 66 needed for a two-thirds supermajority. Republicans are holding on by a few hundred votes in four more seats (Reps. Cyndy Jacobsen, Dan Griffey, and Travis Couture, and Steve Ewing in the open 39th), and Rep. Mike Steele retook the lead in the 12th. State GOP Chair Jim Walsh called it “a blue trickle” and expects late ballots to help Republicans.

Senate.

• 35th: Carolina Mejia leads Sen. Drew MacEwen by 1,380 votes, which would make the Senate 31 to 18
• 42nd (open): Michael Shepard leads Erika Creydt, 56.4% to 43.5%, in the most expensive legislative race in the state

Moderate Democrats paid a price for the income tax vote. Both House Democrats who voted against the millionaire’s tax are trailing progressive challengers, and other Democratic incumbents faced tough challenges:

• 48th: Jessica Forsythe leads Rep. Amy Walen, 51.1% to 47.0%
• 29th: Krista Perez leads Rep. Melanie Morgan, 49.3% to 46.2%
• 37th: Kelabe Tewolde leads Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, the House Education Chair, 61.8% to 37.2%
• 23rd: Rep. Tarra Simmons leads Daria Ilgen by just 460 votes
• 29th, Position 2 (open): Patrick Stickney leads Joe Bushnell by just 13 votes

Further out of balance. Washington already had one of the most lopsided legislatures in the country, with Democrats controlling the House, the Senate, and the governor’s office since 2017. These results move the state further from balance, not closer. The House Democratic caucus will be both larger and further to the left, with fewer moderates in the middle, and a supermajority would mean less need to negotiate with Republicans or with centrists in their own caucus. Proposals that stalled in recent sessions, including new revenue, expanded tenant protections, and labor and environmental mandates, are likely to return with stronger odds. Expect a large freshman class, new committee chairs (including Education), and caucus leadership elections in the weeks ahead. Jaelynn Scott (37th) is on track to become Washington’s first openly transgender legislator.

Washington’s Balance of Power If Current Leads Hold

If every race finished exactly where the election-night count has it, a Legislature that was already heavily tilted would tilt further:

In the House, 68 seats would put Democrats two past the 66-seat, two-thirds supermajority. Four Republicans lead by fewer than 500 votes (25-2, 35-1, 39-2, and 35-2), and one Democratic pickup (25-1) is ahead by only 606, so the final number could land anywhere from about 66 to 70. In the Senate, the 31-18 count depends almost entirely on Carolina Mejia holding her lead in the 35th. In Congress, if Carmela Conroy overtakes Rep. Baumgartner in the 5th, the delegation would go to 9-1. Late-arriving ballots in Washington have tended to favor Democrats, so these numbers are more likely to grow than shrink. This evening’s county counts will be the first real test.

What This Means for Us

If current leads hold, about 27 new lawmakers will arrive in Olympia when session convenes, roughly 25 in the House and 2 in the Senate. That is close to one in five legislators who have never cast a vote in Olympia, and a few more sitting members are changing chambers.

That is a real opportunity for us. New lawmakers are forming their views on our issues right now, before they are sworn in and before the bills start moving. Committee Assembly Days, December 7 through 11, will be our first chance to meet many of them in Olympia, but we do not need to wait that long. The most effective meetings happen back home in the district, with a constituent at their own business, talking about how these issues affect real people in the lawmaker’s community.

Grassroots will matter more this year than ever. With larger majorities and fewer moderates in the middle, relationships built early, before session starts on Monday, January 11, will carry more weight than ever. Getting our members to know their new lawmakers now is the best investment we can make in the 2027 session.

New: the first-ever Washington Summit, and we need to be there. A brand-new event has just been launched for this moment. The Center for Pragmatic Leadership is hosting its inaugural Washington Summit at Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, November 30 through December 2, bringing together a small group of pragmatic Democratic elected officials with business, labor, and civic leaders for relationship building and candid policy conversations. With a larger and more progressive majority coming to Olympia, the moderate Democrats who remain will matter more than ever, for all of us. I strongly encourage you to have your leadership attend. Space is limited and the hotel room block is closing, so please register right away at luma.com/g47bu0ko and let me know you are going.

If you or your members are in one of these districts, we would love to get you together with your newly elected lawmaker before session begins. Just let us know, and we will get a meeting scheduled.

What Comes Next

Counties post their next counts this evening, between about 4 and 5 p.m., and will keep updating most weekdays until certification on November 24. Races within half a percentage point go to an automatic recount. We will send our next update tomorrow morning, Thursday, November 5, after tonight’s counts are in, and keep you posted as the close races settle. The 2027 session convenes on January 11.

2026.11.04 – Election Results Report – All Clients – PDF LINK