In the races that mattered most, the Republican Party in Washington state and at the national level scored sweeping victories on Election Night Tuesday, as the party retained control of the State Senate here, and regained control of the U.S. Senate.
It was the GOP wave election political analysts had been predicting for weeks leading up to Nov. 4, with Republicans knocking off incumbent Democrats to grab Senate seats in Colorado, Arkansas, West Virginia, South Dakota, Montana, North Carolina and picking up an open seat in Iowa. They also padded their lead in the House.
The party fortunes at the national level, fueled by displeasure with an unpopular Democratic president, appeared to lift Republican candidates in Washington in the pivotal Senate races that decided who would control the upper chamber.
Republicans lost the seat held by Sen. Rodney Tom, a Medina Democrat who had caucused with them after the Majority Coalition Caucus takeover, in the 48th District, but picked up a seat with the election of former Democratic Rep. Mark Miloscia, now running as a Republican, in the 30th District. Miloscia was up 56 percent to challenger Shari Song’s 43 percent at the end of Tuesday.
The party was sweeping the four battleground districts, which were seats held by Sen. Doug Ericksen of the 42nd in Whatcom County, Sen. Steve O’Ban in the 28th in the South Sound, Sen. Andy Hill in the Eastside-based 45th, and Democratic Sen. Tim Sheldon in the 35th, which covers parts of Mason, Kitsap and Thurston counties. Only Hill was locked in a close race, but was leading challenger Matt Isenhower 52.89 percent to 47.11 percent.
While a Democrat, Sheldon has also caucused with Republicans since the Majority Coalition Caucus was formed, giving Republicans a 26-23 vote edge in the Senate, and 25-24 among party members. It’s the first time the Republicans have had an outright majority in the Senate since 2004.
Before the election, the Majority Coalition Caucus, counting Tom and Sheldon, had a 26-23 voting edge for Republicans, but Democrats officially held the chamber 25-24. Tom announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election, and Rep. Cyrus Habib scored an easy victory Tuesday to win Tom’s old seat in the 48th District.
Democrats, however, will be in control of the House, although Republicans will cut into their lead by adding a couple of seats there as well. With a Democratic governor, that figures to spell big fights in the upcoming session on basic education funding, a transportation package, and Gov. Jay Inslee’s push for Washington to address carbon emissions to combat global warming.
Sen. Mark Schoesler, the Republican leader who could be the next Majority Leader, said in a statement Tuesday night that residents benefit from divided governing in Olympia.
“The citizens of Washington state benefit when both parties have a say in the process,” said Schoesler, of Ritzville. “One-party control of state government has been a failure; the voters affirmed tonight that they want to see balance and compromise.”
Sen. Sharon Nelson, a Maury Island Democrat and chair of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, did not return a phone call seeking comment for this story. She told the News Tribune of Tacoma she wanted to wait to see how the later returns broke before conceding defeat.
A statewide initiative to impose universal background checks on firearm purchases passed easily Tuesday night, while a ballot measure on reducing classroom size, Initiative 1351, was trailing narrowly at the end of the night, 50.57 percent to 49.43 percent. While that’s going to change as new ballot results come out, the close fight came as a surprise after pre-election polling indicated broad support for the measure among the state’s voters.
On the attention-starved House side, two races drew some focus away from the Senate. Rep. Roger Freeman, a Democrat from Federal Way, died last week of cancer but was leading his race. Democrats would retain control of the seat, and appoint a replacement.
Melanie Stambaugh, a 24-year-old Republican candidate running in the Puyallup-based 25th District, was leading six-term incumbent Democrat Dawn Morrell 53 percent to 46 percent. She would be one of the youngest legislators ever elected to the Legislature.
With no official Democratic Party event on Tuesday – perhaps a telling indication of what they expected to happen – party officials were scattered throughout Seattle and the Eastside suburbs, attending events for individual candidates or ballot measures.
Republicans gathered in downtown Bellevue, and many hung around into the later hours of the evening to soak in the victory, including Sen. Hill.
“The voters get it,” Hill said. “To some degree it’s a referendum on our Majority Coalition Caucus. I think split government is healthy. The voters like that we’ve done it in a bipartisan manner.”
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