Welcome to Filing Week 2020!
Today through Friday, the Secretary of State and county elections officials will be accepting formal declarations of candidacy from Washingtonians who have decided they want to run for office at federal, state, and local levels.
This is a presidential year, which means we’ll be electing all ten of our U.S. House positions, all nine of our statewide executive positions, most of our state legislative positions, and several of our State Supreme Court positions, not to mention a large number of local positions, especially in Pierce County.
This post is the second in a series of Filing Week reports we’ll be bringing you at regular intervals until the close of filing at 5 PM on the final day of the workweek.
U.S. House
The United States House of Representatives is the larger of the two chambers of Congress established by the United States Constitution. Members of the House serve two year terms and must face the voters each election cycle. Since the 2010–2011 redistricting process, Washington has had ten seats in the House.
Candidates who have filed since this morning:
2nd Congressional District
- Republican Timothy S. Hazelo
- Republican Kari Ilonummi
3rd Congressional District
- Democrat Carolyn Long
- Republican Jaime Herrara Butler
4th Congressional District
- Democrat Douglas E. McKinley
7th Congressional District
- Democrat Pramila Jaypal
8th Congressional District
- Republican Keith R. Swank
Executive Department
Washington State’s executive department consists of nine statewide directly elected positions headed by a governor. All positions are for four-year terms, filled in presidential years. Each position is independently elected and thus has its own portfolio of responsibilities. Key management positions within the executive branch that are not directly elected are filled by gubernatorial appointment.
Candidates who have filed since this morning:
Secretary of State
- Republican Kim Wyman
State Auditor
- Democrat Pat McCarthy
State Treasurer
- Democrat Mike Pellicciotti
- Republican Duane A Davidson
Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Stan Lippman
State Supreme Court
The most important judicial body in Washington State is its State Supreme Court, which, like its federal equivalent, has nine members. However, unlike the United States Supreme Court, sometimes referred to as SCOTUS for short, members of the State Supreme Court are directly elected by the voters for six-year terms.
No new candidates have filed.
Key legislative races
The Washington State Legislature, like the United States Congress, is a bicameral body with a House and Senate. Members of the state House serve two year terms, just like their federal counterparts, while members of the state Senate serve four year terms. Presently, Washington has forty-nine legislative districts, with each district electing two representatives and one senator.
17th Legislative District
- State Representative — Position #1
- Republican Vicki Kraft
18th Legislative District
- State Representative — Position #2
- Democrat Donna L. Sinclair
- Republican Larry Hoff
- State Senator
- Democrat Rick Bell
19th Legislative District
- State Senator
- Democrat Dean Takko
23rd Legislative District
- State Representative — Position #1
- Democrat Leslie J. Daugs
- Democrat Tara Simmons
25th Legislative District
- State Representative — Position #1
- Republican Kelly Chambers
- State Senator
- Republican Chris Gildon
Pierce County positions
Pierce is Washington’s second largest county by population. Unlike its northern neighbor King and other home rule counties in Washington State with charters, Pierce elects its county-level positions in even-numbered years (when turnout is higher), as opposed to odd-numbered years (when turnout is typically lower).
No new candidates have filed.
See the complete list of everyone who has filed
Want to see a comprehensive list of all candidate filings at the state level? You can do so at the Secretary of State’s website. You may also browse our archive of Filing Week reports to see who filed for office at other intervals.