The Washington state 2014 primary election took place Aug. 5 and there are very few surprises in preliminary results for Kirkland races. The results, however, maybe a barometer for the general election.
The most hotly contested race was to see who, out of the six challengers, would take on incumbent U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene in the 1st Congressional District during the general election. To no one’s surprise, DelBene is garnering the top spot in the top-two primary with 51 percent of the vote. Two Republicans lead the rest of the pack, as biochemist Robert J. Sutherland from Granite Falls narrowly leads former Microsoft engineer Pedro Celis by less than 300 votes, 15.77-15.49 percent. In a distant fourth place is John Orlinski with 10.13 percent.
In the closest of the primary battles, 1st District Rep. Luis Moscoso (D-Mountlake Terrace) is leading his republican challenger, Edward J. Barton (R-Mill Creek), 44-43 percent. But a third candidate, democrat Dave Griffin, is pulling in 13 percent of the vote. Griffin will likely not make it to the general election. Rep. Derek Stanford is running unopposed. In the race for Rodney Tom’s 48th District Senate seat, State Rep. Cyrus Habib (D-Bellevue) is leading Michelle Darnell (R-Bellevue), 63-37 percent. State Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) is beating Bill Hirt (R-Bellevue) for position 1 in the 48th District, 70-30 percent. The race for position 2 is also a 70-30 percent affair with former Kirkland mayor Joan McBride (D-Kirkland) leading Tim Turner (L-Bellevue). The two candidates are running for the seat vacated by Habib. No other candidates are running in these races and all will advance to the general election.
The races in the 45th District are a bit closer, as State Sen. Andy Hill (R-Redmond) leads challenger Matt Isenhower (D-Redmond), 54-46 percent. The race for position 1 in the 45th has incumbent Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland) leading Joel Hussey (R-Redmond), 54-46 percent. Former Kirkland mayor Rep. Larry Springer (D-Kirkland) leads his challenger, Brendan Woodward (R-Woodinville), for position 2, 56-44 percent. No other candidates are running in these races and all will advance to the general election.
