Celis beats Sutherland to challenge Rep. DelBene in 1st District come November

The final outstanding piece of the primary election puzzle fell into place Tuesday as Pedro Celis was certified by the Washington Secretary or State as the candidate to challenge U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene for her 1st District seat in November.

The final outstanding piece of the primary election puzzle fell into place Tuesday, as Pedro Celis was certified by the Washington Secretary of State as the candidate to challenge U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene for her 1st District seat in November.

Robert Sutherland held second place in the top-two primary election through the first week of released results. But Celis gained enough votes in subsequent ballots to overcome Sutherland in the final results.

DelBene finished the primary with 50.67 percent, or 59,798 votes against her six opponents.

Celis finished with 16.45 percent of 19,407 votes to Sutherland’s 15.61 percent or 18,424 votes.

The next closest finisher was John Orlinski with 11,891 votes.