A drop box at the Ballard branch of the Seattle Public Library in King County. This voting location is one of the most popular in the county. (Laurel Demkovich/Washington State Standard)
Tuesday’s primary will gauge the political climate in Washington and provide an early forecast of how the makeup of the state Legislature could change this fall.
Nine Democratic state lawmakers, all appointed to their seats, are running to retain them. It’s a larger-than-usual number of legislative contests in an odd-year election cycle and, for Democrats, a lot of seats to defend.
They don’t have to sweat over all of them. Five involve legislators who are unopposed or heavily favored to finish in the top two on Tuesday and advance to the general election.
Those four other match-ups are attracting loads of attention and bountiful spending by candidates and their allies.
Contests for two Senate seats will be the first test of voters’ views on higher taxes, budget decisions and new laws passed last session by majority Democrats over the objections of Republicans.
Races for two other seats feature intraparty battles exposing and amplifying strains within the Democratic Party among its progressive and centrist forces.
Here are the four races to watch Tuesday.
Republicans’ best hope
Republicans sense the duel in the 26th Legislative District may be their best chance this year for chipping away at Democrats’ 30-19 seat advantage in the state Senate.
That’s because Democratic Sen. Deb Krishnadasan, a former school board director making her case to voters for the first time as a lawmaker, faces Republican state Rep. Michelle Caldier, winner of six straight House races in the district, the last with nearly 55% of the vote.
They are vying to represent the district that encompasses parts of Kitsap and Pierce counties and includes Bremerton, Port Orchard, Purdy and Gig Harbor.
Krishnadasan, who served six years on the Peninsula School District Board of Directors, was among the vulnerable Democrats voting against her party’s major tax bills and transportation revenue package this past session.
But that hasn’t stopped business- and Republican-backed political committees from spending a little more than a quarter million dollars as of Thursday to tie her to Democrats’ tax hikes.
They are hammering out a message that the most significant new tax increases fall on businesses, and some Democrats wanted to go further with heftier levies on large companies and wealthy individuals.
Caldier’s campaigning on the theme that Democrats overreached and reducing their numbers in the Senate is the best means of preventing a recurrence in 2026.
As the only two candidates, both will advance. Why spend so much money now? Each side hopes to get a sense of which issues resonate with voters. And they know winners of primaries generally go on to victory in the general election.
Republicans’ second-best hope
A similar dynamic is at play in the 5th District in east King County.
Victoria Hunt, a Democrat, who easily won a House seat last November, moved to the Senate a few weeks ago following the unexpected death of Sen. Bill Ramos.
She’s up against an experienced Republican candidate, Chad Magendanz. A former two-term state representative in the district, he ran for Senate last year and lost to Ramos. In 2022, Magendanz tried unsuccessfully to win a House seat.
As in the 26th District race, a major focus is on the new and higher taxes enacted in the 2025 legislative session.
Unlike Krishnadasan, Hunt did vote for the tax bills and has defended her decision to do so. A political committee devoted to electing progressive Democrats has shelled out $40,000 in an independent effort to bolster her candidacy.
On the other side, the state Republican Party and the same business-backed political enterprise at play in the 26th District are behind $210,000 in spending on mailers, texts and digital ads opposing Hunt.
That’s a change. Those political forces stayed out of the November election as Ramos beat Magendanz by 3,400 votes. The Senate Republican Caucus didn’t lift a financial finger either, but is doing so now. These forces must be feeling something akin to confidence ahead of Tuesday.
The other 5 races
In Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers move on to the general election.
In five races, incumbents are either expected to safely scoot through or they are running unopposed.
Reps. Janice Zahn, D-Bellevue, and Osman Salahuddin, D-Redmond, each drew two opponents and both are expected to advance.
In the 41st District, Zahn faces Democrat Vinita Kak of Newcastle and Republican John Whitney of Bellevue. In the 48th District, Salahuddin is challenged by Ranga Bondada and Dennis Ellis.
Three appointed legislators — state Sens. Tina Orwall of Des Moines and Emily Alvarado of Seattle, and Rep. Brianna Thomas of West Seattle — are all unopposed. Orwall serves the 33rd District with Alvarado and Thomas representing the 34th District.
On to November for two Democrats? Or just one?
The 33rd District is a Democratic stronghold. It is one of the test sites for how progressive the party’s voters are feeling.
Democratic state Rep. Edwin Obras, a liberal in his first run for office, is facing a spirited challenge from Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, a moderate Democrat with a couple of local election wins under his belt. Daryl Jones, a Republican, is also on the ballot.
The big question Tuesday is whether enough Democratic voters turn out to advance both of the party’s wannabe torchbearers. A year ago, Republican candidates in this district collected 30% of the vote in the primary, then 31% in the general election. That means it is mathematically doable for both Democratic candidates to make it through to November.
Obras and Schilling, and their supporters, aren’t waiting to chance it. Obras has spent $131,000 to Schilling’s $126,000 and each has been the target of tens of thousands of dollars of hit pieces from independent political committees.
A third-place finish for Obras on Tuesday means he won’t return to the Legislature in January.
Big dollar Democratic showdown
Sen. Vandana Slatter, of Bellevue, and Rep. Amy Walen, of Kirkland, are squaring off in an expensive Democrat-versus-Democrat grudge match in the 48th District, where both enjoy broad support among its voters in Redmond, Bellevue and Kirkland.
Already $700,000 has been shelled out collectively by the candidates and independently-run campaigns of their allies. With both women assured of moving on, all those dollars are about educating voters on some of their differences.
Slatter is the progressive, Walen the business-friendly moderate. The two voted similarly on many bills last session, but differed on a few of the marquee policies.
Both opposed a bill containing an across-the-board increase in the business tax and surcharges on the state’s largest corporations and financial institutions. And both supported another key component of the $9.4 billion tax package that extends the retail sales tax to some services.
Slatter voted for a gas tax increase. Walen did not. Walen opposed the new rent increase cap. Slatter voted for it.
With no Republican in the running, differences on policies like those could motivate GOP voters to engage. But ultimately, this race will be a barometer of how Democratic and independent voters are feeling. Most have cast ballots for both candidates before and now must choose one.
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