Most of the Republican legislative candidates endorsed by The Seattle Times are losing

A slate of sup­pos­ed­ly rea­son­able Repub­li­can leg­isla­tive can­di­dates backed by The Seat­tle Times in four swing leg­isla­tive dis­tricts are head­ed down to defeat in this year’s piv­otal 2022 midterms, while an addi­tion­al three endorsed Repub­li­cans in two safe Repub­li­can dis­tricts are win­ning as expected.

Vot­ers in the 5th, 44th, 45th, and 47th Dis­tricts reject­ed the Times’ advice to strength­en the ranks of the House and Sen­ate Repub­li­can cau­cus­es in Olympia, pre­fer­ring instead to stick with Demo­c­ra­t­ic representation.

Democ­rats are now set to have a very healthy tri­fec­ta in Wash­ing­ton for at least two more years (until 2025). Repub­li­cans haven’t had a House major­i­ty in Wash­ing­ton since the 1990s and haven’t con­trolled the Sen­ate since 2017.

The Seat­tle Times Com­pa­ny endorsed most­ly Demo­c­ra­t­ic can­di­dates for the Leg­is­la­ture this year and antic­i­pat­ed a Demo­c­ra­t­ic hold of both chambers.

How­ev­er, as men­tioned, in four swing dis­tricts not far from the City of Seat­tle, the Times picked a Repub­li­can chal­lenger over a Demo­c­ra­t­ic incumbent.

The Times also endorsed two Repub­li­can incum­bent leg­is­la­tors plus a Repub­li­can chal­lenger to an ultra MAGA, elec­tion-deny­ing Repub­li­can incumbent.

The Times’ 2022 Repub­li­can leg­isla­tive endorse­ments con­sist­ed of:

• Chad Magen­danz in the 5th. “Magendanz’s proven record of inde­pen­dent think­ing, work­ing across the aisle and well respect­ed work on the McCleary bill put him in the best posi­tion to make need­ed reforms to tru­ly bring equi­ty to all Wash­ing­ton schools,” the edi­to­r­i­al board said. But vot­ers in the 5th demon­strat­ed that they want for­mer school board mem­ber Lisa Callan, an Issaquah Demo­c­rat, to con­tin­ue to rep­re­sent them. Magen­danz cur­rent­ly has 45.46% of the vote.
• Drew Stokes­bary in the 31st. “Over four terms in the Leg­is­la­ture, Stokes­bary has been a strong, mod­er­ate voice speak­ing out for his con­stituents. He has proved him­self an effec­tive leg­is­la­tor and leader on bud­get issues,” the edi­to­r­i­al board said. The 31st is a solid­ly Repub­li­can Pierce and King Coun­ty dis­trict that has­n’t elect­ed a Demo­c­rat in years. Stokes­bary cur­rent­ly has 59.78% of the vote.
• Sam Low in the 39th. “A fis­cal con­ser­v­a­tive, Low wants to pro­vide tax relief to state res­i­dents strug­gling with infla­tion as well as pre­serve farm­land and open space. He offers a return to a cred­i­ble, leg­isla­tive prob­lem-solv­ing style,” the edi­to­r­i­al board said. The 39th is also a Repub­li­can dis­trict. Low, a Sno­homish Coun­ty coun­cilmem­ber, took on elec­tion denier Robert Suther­land in a Repub­li­can-on-Repub­li­can con­test, with the back­ing of J.T. Wilcox. Low cur­rent­ly has 54.92% of the vote.
• Car­olyn Eslick in the 39th. “Eslick has tak­en a well-con­sid­ered posi­tion as a Repub­li­can mod­er­ate, crit­i­cal of high-spend­ing Demo­c­ra­t­ic poli­cies and reac­tionary pos­tur­ing with­in her own Repub­li­can par­ty,” the edi­to­r­i­al board said. Eslick cur­rent­ly has 57.59% of the vote.
• Mark Harmsworth in the 44th. “As a small-busi­ness own­er, Harmsworth said he knows first­hand the red tape and bureau­cra­cy that comes with run­ning a busi­ness. He wants to help stream­line per­mit­ting and bring some tax relief to Wash­ing­to­ni­ans,” the edi­to­r­i­al board said. But vot­ers in the Sno­homish Coun­ty dis­trict are say­ing no to his come­back bid. Harmsworth is cur­rent­ly los­ing to Brandy Don­aghy with 45.58% of the vote.
• Ryi­ka Hooshan­gi in the 45th. “The Repub­li­can, who sup­ports abor­tion rights, will help bring much-need­ed bal­ance to the Leg­is­la­ture with a mod­er­ate, col­lab­o­ra­tive brand of pol­i­tics that is pro­gres­sive on social poli­cies and con­ser­v­a­tive on fis­cal issues,” the edi­to­r­i­al board said. Vot­ers in the 45th emphat­i­cal­ly dis­agreed. Hooshan­gi has 36.61% of the vote.
• Bill Boyce in the 47th. “Boyce’s deep pub­lic-ser­vice involve­ment in the com­mu­ni­ties of the 47th Dis­trict make him the clear choice,” the edi­to­r­i­al board wrote. But vot­ers are going with for­mer State Sen­a­tor Clau­dia Kauff­man, a Native Amer­i­can who held the posi­tion from 2007–2011. Boyce cur­rent­ly has 46.68% of the vote.

In a big break with the past, no Repub­li­can can­di­dates for fed­er­al office were endorsed by the news­pa­per this year. Instead, the Times offered enthu­si­as­tic sup­port for Pat­ty Mur­ray and Kim Schri­er. Incum­bent Sec­re­tary of State Steve Hobbs also received a glow­ing rec­om­men­da­tion from the Times.

Due to hav­ing most­ly endorsed Democ­rats and pro­gres­sive posi­tions on bal­lot mea­sures this year, the Times’ over­all win-loss col­umn looks real­ly good.

But the board was clear­ly hop­ing that vot­ers across sub­ur­ban and exur­ban Cen­tral Puget Sound would make the area’s leg­isla­tive rep­re­sen­ta­tion more Repub­li­can than it has been since 2017–2018. That sim­ply isn’t happening.