UPDATE – Hagen and county incumbents ahead after first week’s vote counts

Danny Hagen is handily winning his race for Skagit County Assessor, replacing his boss, Dave Thomas, who is retiring. The Shelter Bay resident, running as an independent, leads Republican Karie Storle by almost 3,000 ballots and over 11 percentage points after votes were tallied daily Aug. 2-5.

Hagen and Storle will face each other on the November ballot.

All county races were between two candidates or had officeholders unopposed. Incumbents were winning handily in every contest. Auditor Sandy Perkins continues to have over 59% of the vote and an almost 5,000 count lead against challenger Eric Hull. Sheriff Don McDermott is winning with 69.7% of the vote.

The two Legislative District 10 state representative seats have the Democrats leading in both Skagit County and overall in the three county district, which includes western Skagit County, northeastern Snohomish County and Island County.

In Skagit County precincts Clyde Shavers, an Oak Harbor Navy veteran, was 1,047 votes, 20.5% ahead of first term State Rep Greg Gilday (R-Camano Island) after four days. Likewise, State Rep. Dave Paul (D-Oak Harbor) was leading challenger Karen Lesetmoe, an Oak Harbor realtor, by almost 1,250 votes, with 62.2% of the vote.

The Democrats have large leads in Island County, with Shavers up by almost nine percentage points and Paul up by 15 percentage points. That county has almost two-thirds of the district's population.

Gilday has taken 57.5% and Leseetmoe 55.9% of Snohomish County votes. The county is almost 30% of the district’s population.

Districtwide, Shavers leads Gilday 52%-48% while Paul leads Leseetmoe with 53.4% of the vote.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray is headed for reelection, with 53.1% of the statewide vote in the 18 candidate race. She will be facing Republican Tiffany Smiley in November. Smiley has a mountain to climb: She is 353,594 votes and 20 percentage points behind after four days of statewide counting.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs is well ahead in the race to win the office he was appointed to last November, with 40.6% of the vote in his 8-way race. Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson had 12.9% Friday, with state Senator Keith Wagoner’s (R-Sedro Woolley) 12%, 16,878 votes behind Anderson.

In Skagit County, Hobbs has 40.4% of the vote, with Wagoner (R-Sedro Woolley) second with 22.2%. and Anderson third at 11.9%.

Second Congressional Representative Rick Larsen is headed toward reelection, with 46.2% of the district vote, well ahead of challenger Dan Matthews, a Republican, with 17% of the district vote. Progressive Democrat Jason Call is fourth with 14.7%. He is 4,858 votes out of second place. The top two vote getters advance to the November election.

In Skagit County, Larsen has 49% of the vote but Call dropped to fourth, with 9.2%, behind Cody Hart, a MAGA Republican who has 13% of votes.

The Shavers-Gilday contest will tighten through the final tally. Skagit and Island counties are bluer counties while the portion of Snohomish County in the 10th district has a larger Republican vote. Republican District 10 state legislative candidates won their primary contests in 2020, though there were at least three candidates in each race.

Skagit County voter turnout so far is 32.3%. Voter turnout in Island County is 51.6% with almost all ballots counted, as in Snohomish county, where voter turnout was 37%. Some 9,000 votes remain to be counted in Skagit County, though not all ballots will be from legislative district 10.

The Weekly News will post an update after Monday’s ballot count and have a story in the Aug. 10 edition. Skagit County will certify its vote Tuesday, Aug. 16 and the secretary of state’s office Aug. 19.