 OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - There were few surprises when Washington unveiled its new primary system, but a handful of statehouse races spotlight one of the system's most interesting facets: two people from the same party moving on to the general election.
Eight legislative races in November now are shaping up as one-party showdowns — six in the House and two in the Senate.
In some cases, like the race for the Senate's 11th District, there wasn't even a second-party challenger.
That means Senate Budget Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, who was claiming 49 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary, will likely be facing one of two Democratic opponents when all mail-in votes are counted.
Other contests had candidates from more than one party, but still saw two hopefuls with the same party preference moving on to November. One example: The 36th District House seat vacated by retiring Rep. Helen Sommers, a Democrat, now being sought by Democrats Reuven Carlyle and John Burbank, who edged out Republican candidate Leslie Bloss.
For critics of the new top two system, these one-party general election ballots — and the opening for candidates not endorsed by the parties — isn't a good idea.
"It's a stretch to call this election a primary," said Washington State University political scientist Lance LeLoup, who is not a fan of the new system. "It's the first round of a general election. So the state of Washington, in a literal sense and historic sense, no longer has a primary. The parties really can't choose their own nominees anymore."
But Secretary of State Sam Reed called the election a success, and said the voters were the "big winners" because they'll be presented with the strongest candidates in a given district.
"They best represent the district because they're the top vote getters," Reed said Wednesday. "There's a certain logic that says they ought to be the ones squaring off in November. They'll have to campaign through November and be accountable to voters. That's healthy for our process."
The top two primary system, which voters approved in 2004 and was patterned loosely after Louisiana's system, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. The top two finishers advance to the general election on Nov. 4, regardless of party.
And since the top two is a winnowing primary rather than a nominating contest, candidates get to align themselves with whichever party label they want, even if they're not the "official" candidate of the state parties.
In the race for U.S. Rep. Brian Baird's seat for the 3rd District, Baird, a Democrat, easily advanced, but the official Republican candidate, Christine Webb, was trailing behind fellow Republican Michael Delavar in early returns.
The Democratic and Republican parties' concerns were mostly unrealized, with most of their preferred candidates in the top races, including governor, treasurer and attorney general, all moving forward.
Democratic Party spokesman Kelly Steele said regardless of that fact, the primary "offers voters less choice."
"We think the system has some problems," he said. "I'm not sure where it's going to go. We don't have any immediate plans to claim harm from what happened yesterday, in a legal sense. We'll see how this all pans out."
In its ruling, the Supreme Court noted that since a top two primary had not yet been carried out, there was no basis for the parties' argument that voters would be confused.
The political parties believe that leaves the door open for them, and they're still pursuing challenges on various aspects of the law in federal courts.
"I'm still optimistic we'll win that lawsuit and the top two will be found to be unconstitutional," state Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said.
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Washington state Secretary of State: http://www.secstate.wa.gov |