Western Washington dominates state-level political races

Nearly midway through filing week for public office in Washington, 40 candidates have filed to run for 10 statewide positions.

Only three have obvious ties to Eastern Washington — Gov. Jay Inslee, a Seattle native who spent 20 years in the Yakima Valley, Duane Davidson, a Richland Republican who is running for state treasurer, and Ron Higgins, a retired educator from West Richland who is running for the nonpartisan Superintendent of Public Instruction post.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were nine candidates for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Patty Murray, a Seattle Democrat, four for governor, including the incumbent, seven for lieutenant governor, three for secretary of state, four for state treasurer, three for state auditor, one for attorney general, three for commissioner of public lands, five for Superintendent of Public Instruction and one for insurance commissioner.

There were no new filings Tuesday afternoon in any of the local races, including two posts each on the Benton and Franklin county commissions, a long list of seats in the state House and Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives seat held by Republican Dan Newhouse.

Winners in Washington’s Aug. 2 primary will advance to the Nov. 8 election.

For up to the minute filing information, visit the Benton County Elections site, bit.ly/BentonCandidates, and the Franklin County Elections site, bit.ly/FranklinCandidates.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Western Washington dominates state-level political races."