Washington state carried out three recounts for close races in November’s general election. According to the Washington secretary of state, ballots from the 3rd and 9th U.S. Congressional Districts and the 10th Washington Legislative District have been retallied and the results confirmed the outcomes certified by Secretary of State Steve Hobbs on Dec. 7.
There was a full machine recount that was requested of the 3rd Congressional District, which resulted in a 14-ballot change. The recount took place in seven counties. Clark County saw 10 additional votes added to its count while Cowlitz County added two votes and Skamania and Thurston counties each added one vote. This added nine votes for the Democratic candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and five votes for Republican candidate Joe Kent. This changed the margin of victory for Perez from 2,629 to 2,633.
In the 9th Congressional District, a requested hand recount did not change the vote totals for the race.
In the 10th Legislative Legislative District, the required by state law machine recount adjusted the result by five votes, all to Democratic candidate Clyde Shavers. This changed Shavers’ margin of victory from 211 votes to 216. Those five votes were from Island County.
The 2022 general election in Washington saw the Democrats keep their 57 to 41 advantage in the state House of Representatives. In state Senate races, Democrats gained a seat and now have a 28-21 advantage in that chamber.
In the U.S. House of Representatives election in Washington, Democrats gained a seat, with Perez defeating Kent in a seat formerly held by Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler. Washington currently has eight Democrat representatives and two Republican representatives to the U.S. House. In the U.S. Senate election for the state, Democrat incumbent Patty Murray defeated Republican Tiffany Smiley 57 to 42% to keep both of Washington’s U.S. Senate seats blue.
Voter turnout for the midterm election was roughly 64% of Washington’s 4.8 million registered voters. While lower than the 2018 midterms, it was 10% higher than the 2014 midterms.
