(The Center Square) – Three days after the election, several state legislative contests in Washington have yet to be called.
Democrats hoped to pick up a seat or two in the Yakima Valley thanks to recent redistricting, but as previously reported by The Center Square, it doesn’t look like that will happen.
As Republicans saw it, redistricting was done in an effort to ensure Democrats in the 14th Legislative District secured a supermajority, but there were a dozen other districts impacted by the redraw as well.
As of Friday midday, the 14th Legislative District remains firmly in Republican control with Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, holding a lead of about 2,000 votes over Democratic challenger Maria Beltran. Republicans are firmly in the lead for the two House in the 14th positions up for grabs.
“We cannot deny the impact of the horrible racist and sexist assaults on text messages that came in from the Washington state Republicans,” said Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad in a Friday interview with The Center Square, in reference to the Yakima Valley races.