Grays Harbor leans Republican in Primary Election

Grays Harbor was not a Blue County in the Primary Election, and instead a shade of purple.

Grays Harbor has been historically known as a Democrat-led county, although the results of the August Primary have moved the county further to the center.

KXRO ran the local election numbers, removing non-partisan races and candidates, to analyze how local residents leaned.

While Grays Harbor voters did prefer candidates who identified themselves as Democrats over those who registered as Republicans, it was a 9-7 split in the top two vote getters.

While Democrats did lead the overall total in those moving on, Republicans received a higher percentage of the overall vote.

55.15% of the partisan race votes went to Republican Candidates, to 44.85% to Democrats. 

These numbers only include those candidates who identified themselves as Democrats, or those who chose Republican or GOP in their filing details.

Partisan Races (including only Grays Harbor results):

• Grays Harbor preferred Republican Loren Culp over Democrat Governor Jay Inslee, 41.59% to 37.71%
• Democrat Congressman Derek Kilmer led Republiccan challenger Elizabeth Kreselmaier 38.54% to 28.5%
• Lt. Governor candidate and Democrat Denny Heck leads Republican Marty McClendon, 30.37% to 19.7%
• Republican Secretary of State Kimy Wyman holds a commanding lead of 60.32% over Democrat Gael Tarleton’s 32.94%
• Republican Treasurer Duane Davidson holds a 56.73% lead over Democratic challenger Mike Pellicciotti’s 43.17%
• Chris Leyba, Republican, has a 52.9% lead in the State Auditor Race, leading incumbent Democrat Pat McCarthy and 35.2%
• Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Democrat, leads Republican Matt Larkin with a 44.83% overall vote to Larkin’s 30.2%
• Democratic Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz brought 35.72% in her crowded race, leading Republican challenger Sue Kuehl Pederson at 21.34%
• Democrat and incumbent Washington Insurance COmmissioner Mike Kreidler brought 49.11% of the vote locally, over Republican challenger Chirayu Avinash Patel’s 37.95%
• 19th District Senator, Democrat Dean Takko, leads Republican Grays Harbor County Commissioner in local results, 45-75% to 36.52%
• Republican 19th District Representative Jim walsh holds a 55.6% lead in his race, with Democrat Marianna Everson bringing 23.07% 
• Democrat and 19th District Representative Brian Blake saw 50.99% of the Grays Harbor vote over Republican challenger Joel Mcentire and 48.9%
• 24th District Democrat Incumbent Senator Kevin Van De Wege trails Republican Connie Beauvais after the Primary, trailing 45% to 54.85%
• 24th District Representative Mike Chapman, Democrat, received 45.13% of the vote in his race, leading Trump Republican Daniel Charles Svoboda and 30.63%
• 24th District Representative Steve Tharinger holds 32.47% of the vote after the August Primary was certified, which led Republican Jodi Wilke and 28.17%
• While the Grays Harbor County Commissioners currently feature one Republican and two who identify with no party preference, that will change in 2021. Republicans lead in both races, with Jill Warne holding 55.52% of the vote for East County over Democrat Jamie Nichols’ 27.95% and Republican Kevin Pine having 43.12% over incumbent no party preference Commissioner Randy Ross and 32.21%

Within local cities, Republican Gubernatorial candidates had the preference, with Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Cosmopolis, Elma, Montesano, McCleary, Oakville, and Westport all leaning Republican. 

Ocean Shores was the only local city that had more voters choose Democrat candidates for Governor over the Republicans.