These 3 candidates have clear leads in the contested WA 15th and 16th legislative races
Voters in the Tri-Cities made clear on Tuesday their choices on who will represent them in Olympia next spring.
The 15th and 16th Legislative districts were redrawn earlier this year, and most of the seats will be getting new members in the state House and Senate.
Each legislative district in Washington is represented by a state senator and two representatives. The 15th and 16th districts cover huge swaths of southern and central Washington.
Not all of the races are contested though.
In the 15th Legislative district only the senate race was contested, with Republican Nikki Torres and Democrat Lindsey Keesling facing off. It stretches from Yakima to Mattawa to Othello and south to eastern Pasco, Sunnyside and Grandview.
Torres, a former Pasco city councilwoman, was leading with 9,381 votes, or 69.6%, to Keesling’s 4,068 votes, 30.2%, after the first batch of ballots were counted Tuesday night.
Bruce Chandler is running unopposed for the 15th District Position 1 representative seat. Bryan Sandlin, who is running for the position 2 seat, is also running unopposed.
The returns are preliminary. The next update will come in later on Wednesday afternoon and in the days following the election as ballots are tabulated. Benton County estimates that tallies announced Tuesday night will represent about half of their total expected ballots. The election will be certified on Nov. 29.
Through Monday, Franklin County had received 14,377 ballots. The 16th District also includes portions of Walla Walla County, and the 15th stretches north into Yakima County.
In the 16th Legislative District Mark Klicker and Jeff Strickler are vying for the Position 1 representative. Klicker was leading with 15,387 votes, or 69.3%, to Strickler’s 6,803 votes, or 30.6%.
The 16th stretches from Prosser to Benton City, before dipping south of the Tri-Cities and covering Walla Walla County.
For the 16th Legislative District Position 2 seat, Jan Corn and Skyler Rude are facing off. Rude is leading with 15,818 votes, or 71.4%, to Corn’s 6,301, or 28.5%.
Vote tallies now include Walla Walla County’s initial batch of ballots.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 9:34 PM.
