WASHINGTON, USA — Nearly two weeks after voters cast ballots in the primary election, the second-place finisher in the primary race for Washington state Commissioner of Public Lands remains "too close to call," prompting candidates to spend days calling and door-knocking voters with rejected but "curable" ballots to make sure their selections would count.
In Washington state primaries, the top two vote-getters in any given race advance to the general election, regardless of party. Five Democrats and two Republicans ran in the primary for lands commissioner, prompting some political analysts to note the possibility that the general could end with two Republicans—Jaime Herrera Beutler and Sue Kuehl Pederson—going head to head.
"We've seen Democrats lock themselves out of races before," said Seattle University Associate Professor of Political Science Patrick Schoettmer. "[This role] oversees both public land and waterways...so what happens in this race is going to have a spillover effect to a lot of things we pay attention to."
Herrera Beutler secured 22% of the vote as of Monday, with Pederson and Democrat Dave Upthegrove following a few points behind -- within a close margin of one another.
"It has been a little bit nerve-wracking and we're working really hard all over the state to make sure every vote counts," Upthegrove said Monday.
He and hundreds of volunteers have been calling and door-knocking likely Democratic voters whose ballots were rejected but curable—meaning there was a mismatched signature or something of that nature that could be clarified so their vote would be counted.
"We have people knocking on doors on Lopez island, we have people tracking down individual voters in rural neighborhoods in eastern Washington, we've called people multiple times and we're gonna knock on every door by the end of the day," Upthegrove said.
A campaign spokesperson for Pederson said she was not available for comment Monday but released a statement saying, "We are actively curing ballots all over the state and focusing on smaller, eastern WA counties. We believe this race will be won by razor-thin margins, and we feel very encouraged by volunteers throughout the entire state who have offered their help and support for ballot curing."
Upthegrove said he expects a recount in the primary election. The Washington Secretary of State's website says a recount is required when the "difference between the top two candidates is less than 2,000 votes and also less than 1/2 of 1% of the total number of votes cast for both candidates." In that case, a machine recount is required; if an even higher threshold is met, a manual recount can be required.