Election results: Who’s ahead in 6 Tri-Cities area legislative races
Legislative hopefuls fell short of victories in several Mid-Columbia races, as incumbents looked to have a firm hold on their positions in Olympia. But there will be two newcomers.
8th District
▪ After six terms of serving in the legislature, Rep. Brad Klippert (R-Kennewick) will be heading into a seventh after defeating Democrat Shir Regev, a health physics technician at Hanford.
Klippert won with 64 percent of the vote while Regev had 35 percent. The win for the conservative Benton County sheriff’s deputy follows a previous win against Regev in the 2018 general election.
▪ Tri-City native and former Kennewick councilman Rep. Matt Boehnke (R-Kennewick) beat political newcomer Larry Stanley, of the Alliance Party who works as a tasting room manager in Richland.
Boehnke took 79 percent of the vote while Stanley had 20 percent. Boehnke served in the Army as a pilot and retired as a lieutenant colonel and now teaches cyber security at Columbia Basin College.
9th District
▪ Rep. Mary Dye (R-Pomeroy) took 75.5 percent of Tuesday night’s vote to gain another term. Libertarian Brett Borden had 23.4 percent of the vote.
Dye, a wheat farmer from Addy, has been serving since 2015.
16th District
▪ The margins between Republican Perry Dozier and Democrat Danielle Garbe Reser were closer than in other area races with Dozier receiving nearly 58 percent of votes counted Tuesday to Reser’s 42 percent.
The seat was left vacant after Sen. Maureen Walsh (R-College Place) decided to retire after 16 years in elected office.
Dozier is a longtime Waitsburg farmer who previously served as a Walla Walla County commissioner for two terms.
▪ Republican Mark Klicker beat Democrat Frances Chvatal in the race to fill the state representative seat left vacant by Rep. Bill Jenkin (R-Prosser), who ran unsuccessfully for a state senate seat.
Klicker received 62 percent of the votes to Chvatal’s nearly 38 percent. Klicker is a private business owner with roots in the agriculture industry.
▪ Incumbent Rep. Skyler Rude (R-Walla Walla) overcame a challenge by political activist and Democrat Carly Coburn. Coburn received almost 33 percent of the votes while Rude was well ahead with 67 percent.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 9:51 PM.