House9 recount confirms narrow edge for Lathim
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Secretary of State Kim Wyman says the recount of the close primary vote in House District 9 in the sprawling six-county district showed that not a single vote changed from the original tally.
That means former Franklin County Sheriff Richard Lathim’s 47-vote margin over Democrat Kenneth Caylor stands. Lathim advances to the General Election, taking on fellow Republican Mary Dye, who was appointed to the House earlier this year to replace Rep. Susan Fagan.
The outcome will not affect the partisan makeup of the House. Ds now have 51 seats and Republicans 47. One other special House election will be held in the 30th District. The Republican, Teri Hickel, led the Democrat, appointed Rep. Carol Gregory, 52-48 in the dry-run primary.
The state’s Top 2 system allows voters’ two favorites to advance to the fall election without regard to party preference. In most cases, that means a candidate from each of the two major parties, but in largely one-party districts like in Seattle or much of Eastern Washington, sometimes two candidates with the same party preference get into the finals. In last year’s 4th District congressional race, Republicans won both runoff spots.
The recount was required by state law because the second- and third-place finishers in the primary were within one-half of 1 percent of each other.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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