Mona Das Moves Ahead Of Joe Fain: Thursday Vote Totals

SEATTLE, WA -Two days after the 2018 midterm election, many races were unchanged. But one key south King County race flipped.

Democrat Mona Das pulled ahead of incumbent Republican Joe Fain by about 200 votes, according to the latest vote totals. Fain has been accused of raping a woman in a Washington DC hotel room in 2007, an accusation he denies.

On Wednesday, Das was trailing Fain by less than 100 votes.

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The record-breaking 2018 midterm election in Washington mostly ended Tuesday night with some major races called. But the vote counting will continue throughout the week, which means close races may not be decided for days or weeks.

Turnout in King County was huge for a mid-term election. Of the 1.3 million voters registered in the county, 950,738 ballots had been returned as of Thursday, which is about 73 percent turnout

On Tuesday night, ballot boxes across the county received a steady stream of voters.

In downtown Issaquah, voter Susan Olson described herself as, usually, a fence-sitter. But this election, she broke left, voting for Democrat Kim Schrier and for gun reform. She said Schrier came off as more honest to her than Republican Dino Rossi.

King County was a major factor in Schrier's six-point lead over Rossi at the end of the night Tuesday. She was behind Rossi in every other county in the 8th Congressional District, but way ahead in King County.

In Bellevue, one of the city's three drop boxes at the downtown library was getting about as much traffic as a Chik-fil-A. Inside the library, King County election officials were helping voters get new ballots. A line inside the library snaked up and down a long hallway, full of people who needed new ballots or who had other voting problems.

At the drop box outside, Rich Quigley hopped out of his car to drop off his ballot. Although he was in a hurry, he showed support for I-1639, the gun control initiative.

"Biggest for me is the gun laws," Quigley said.

In Washington's 1st Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Suzan Delbene was winning handily. In Congressional District 7, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal was annihilating her Republican challenger Craig Keller.

In the 9th Congressional District, progressive Democrat Sarah Smith was trying to unseat Democrat Adam Smith, who was first elected in 1996. Sarah Smith narrowly beat Republican Doug Basler in the August primary. She was running on a platform of removing corporate donations from politics - but Adam Smith has accepted thousands from large corporations in this election and in other years.

Adam Smith won his seat back, however.

"I'll be very brief tonight and just say, 'thank you,'" Adam Smith said in brief remarks at the state Democrats watch party at the Bellevue Hilton Tuesday.

Countywide, the prosecutor's race was upended in late September when challenger Daron Morris dropped out of the race due to health issues. Satterberg, who was first elected King County Prosecutor in 2006, was winning Tuesday night with about 72 percent of the vote.
There were a few state Legislature races to watch, too.

In the 5th Legislative District, Democrats Bill Ramos (an Issaquah Councilman) and Lisa Callan (an Issaquah School Board Director) were cruising toward beating Republicans Chad Magendanz and Paul Graves.

Waving signs in downtown Issaquah Tuesday night, Ramos said he's knocked on over 14,000 doors. Voters are talking most about gun control and the environment, he said.

Callan said that it's important for someone with education experience to go to the state Legislature due to McCleary-related funding decisions.

"The work is just starting," she said.

In the Legislative District 47 state Senate race, Das has been silent on the rape accusation, but says she supports an investigation of Fain. Fain has also called for an investigation.

In the 48th Legislative District, incumbent Democrat Patty Kuderer was successfully defending her state House seat against Rodney Tom, a Democrat who has been accused of being a Republican in disguise.

Kuderer pulled ahead of Tom early Tuesday night.

"We ran a campaign that was positive, we ran a campaign based on ideas that will move Washington forward, and the voters said, 'yes that's what we want!'" Kuderer said in a victory speech.

In the district's position 2 state House race, Kirkland Mayor Amy Walen was ahead of Democrat Cindi Bright for the open seat. Both are progressives, but Walen might has higher name recognition: she's been on the Kirkland City Council since 2009.

In Legislative District 30, longtime south King County Republican Sen. Mark Miloscia is facing a tough challenge from Federal Way school board President Claire Wilson. Miloscia, a polarizing conservative, was trailing Wilson by about 6 percentage points.

In Legislative District 34, Democrats Joe Nguyen and Shannon Braddock were vying to replace Sharon Nelson, who is retiring. Nguyen has received endorsements of some more lefty elected officials (Pramila Jayapal), but both Democrats are pretty progressive.

One of the few competitive judicial races is position 8 on the state Supreme Court. Incumbent Steve Gonzalez is worried that this race's low-profile could cost him his Supreme Court seat. Challenger Nathan Choi has no judicial experience and trades in "deep state" conspiracy theories - but his name also appears first on the ballot.

But returns showed Choi was losing badly on election night.

Remember: Tuesday's results are subject to change throughout the week. County election offices will release new results at around 4 p.m. each day after Election Day. You can check back with Patch for instant updates.

Looking for more election coverage? Check out these stories:

• 'Increased Volume' Forces King County Elections To Open Saturday
• Leonardo DiCaprio Gets Involved In I-1631 Debate
• Schrier Out-Raises Rossi In WA-8 Campaign
• See 2018 WA Primary Results Here
• D.C. Police Can't Investigate Fain Rape Claim Without Report

File photo by Neal McNamara/Patch