Primary election outcomes look good for housing justice: A note from our Endorsement Committee Chair
What an exciting primary election night last Tuesday for the Housing Alliance, and for the housing justice movement in Washington! As of this weekend, it appears that only three or four of the 76 candidates we endorsed will not be moving forward to the general election. In two of the three races where we offered dual endorsements, both candidates will be on the November ballot.
In summary, we endorsed 15 candidates for state Senate, and only one may not be on the November ballot. In Whatcom County, our endorsed candidate Eamonn Collins is only nine, that’s right nine, votes behind the second spot. One of the biggest opportunities is a possible flip of a seat in the 35th district, which is primarily in Mason County. Our endorsed candidate Carolina Mejia is less than 400 votes behind the incumbent. In the 32nd district, we endorsed Cindy Ryu to move over from the House, and she is leading the incumbent by more than six percentage points.
Over in the House we endorsed 59 candidates with likely only three not going forward. In Spokane County in the 3rd district Luc Jasmin III has pulled into the lead in a tight three-way primary. In the 12th district, Chelan plus parts of eastern King and Snohomish counties, Stacy Willoughby is less than 500 votes behind the incumbent. In the 14th district in south central Washington, it appears that Ezequiel Morfin will have a competitive race to unseat an incumbent.
In Kitsap County, Renee Hernandez Greenfield will advance to the general election with an opportunity to succeed a retiring representative whose has often stood in the way of our progress. In the 29th Krista Perez has pulled ahead of an incumbent who has not been supportive of our issues. And best of all, in SW Washington, both seats in the 17th and both seats in the 18th districts appear to have a very good chance to flip from unfriendly legislators to friendly ones as all have leads over the incumbents.
Both King County Council endorsed candidates, Rebecca Saldaña and Teresa Mosqueda also have solid leads.
Things can still change as votes are still straggling in, but overall, the results are excellent for housing advocates in Washington. Good election results this year mean more progress on our housing priorities in 2027 and 2028!
Over the next few months, we’ll be working to support candidates we’ve endorsed, especially those in the most competitive races. Will you join us? You can make a financial contribution and sign up to join us for phone banking or door knocking to reach voters.
See our full list of endorsed candidates.
Onward to November!
Gary Akizuki
Vancouver resident
Washington Housing Alliance board member and endorsement committee chair