UPDATE: Republicans still lead in 35th District

WEB UPDATE: None of the 35th District races saw lead changes in Wednesday's second ballot count. The three Republican candidates maintained or expanded their respective leads.

Republicans leading in three 35th District races

In the initial ballot count Tuesday evening, three Republicans were leading in their quests to represent the 35th District in the state Legislature.

The first ballot count gave Republican Drew MacEwen a lead over Democrat Julianne Gale in Mason County for a four-year term as state senator, with the Union resident receiving 11,817 votes for 55.76%, and Gale receiving 9,349 votes for 44.12%. Districtwide, MacEwen had 24,959 votes for 54.52%, and Gale 20,784 votes for 45.4%.

"I am very pleased with the results tonight and thank voters for your trust, confidence and vote to send me to the Senate," MacEwen wrote in an email to the Journal. "I will continue to work hard for the people of the 35th and am humbled by voters' support."

Gale wrote that throughout her campaign, "our community came together to plant seeds for the future we wish to grow here in the 35th Legislative District. It has been encouraging to watch the number of first-time voters grow. I want to thank all the motivated voters for braving recent storms, floods, winds and snows to get ballots in and counted!"

In the initial count in Mason County, Republican Travis Couture garnered 10,997 votes for 52.24%, and Democrat Sandy Kaiser 10,040 votes for 47.69% to replace

MacEwen at Position 2 in the state House of Representatives. Throughout the 35th District, Couture had 23,267 votes for 51.07% and Kaiser 22,270 votes for 48.77%.

"We are very pleased and excited about the initial election results for the 35th District," Couture wrote to the Journal in an email. "Although there are more ballots left to count, we believe they should trend our way, similar to the primary election. Our team put an incredible amount of work in the last year and a half, and I couldn't be more proud and honored. At a large gathering tonight alongside Rep. MacEwen and Rep. Griffey, I thanked my family, volunteers and the voters of the 35th District for their support. This might be the first time ever, or in memory, that the 35th may send three Republicans to Olympia."

"The race is very close, and there may be many votes yet to be counted, especially in Thurston County," Kaiser wrote. "I believe the numbers will shift over the next few days. Meanwhile, we ran a great race and we brought folks out to vote who believe in positive change in our district."

In the contest for Position 1 representing the 35th District, incumbent Republican Dan Griffey in the first Mason County ballot count had 12,328 votes for 58,26%, and Democrat James DeHart 8,797 votes for 41.57%. Districtwide, Griffey had 26,110 votes for 57.12% and DeHart 19,549 votes for 42.77%

"I am honored to have such amazing support," Griffey wrote. "The initial results are very positive and I expect that trend to continue. The 35th had been very supportive of law enforcement and our public servants. They value education and our children's future. They want common sense and they expect all of us to pull together and get the job done. I'm happy to be in their corner."

"My thoughts on the preliminary results are that it is too soon to call and I will be interested in what the next few days are like," DeHart wrote. "Currently, I am behind, but that can certainly change."