Semi Bird, the Republican from Tri-Cities who is running for governor in Washington, was eliminated from the primary on Tuesday.
Early results released on election night showed Bird with just 9% of the vote, or nearly 95,000 ballots.
Democrat Bob Ferguson and Republican Dave Reichert led the other 26 challengers with 46% and 28%, respectively. Ferguson had received 460,000 votes as of Tuesday night, compared to 282,000 for Reichert.
Ferguson and Reichert will face off in the November 5 general election. The Associated Press called the race for Ferguson and Reichert shortly after 8 p.m.
In Washington’s two-candidate primary system, only the two candidates with the most votes can advance.
Nearly 60% of ballots in Washington state have been counted so far, but about 403,000 remain to be counted.
Bird had not given up on Tuesday evening.
If elected, Bird would be the first black man to hold the office of governor of Washington, and the first Republican governor in 40 years.
Did Tri-City voters vote for Bird?
Early ballots show Bird was defeated even on his own turf.
He received only 21% of the vote in Benton County and 23% in Franklin County. There were just over 30,500 ballots counted so far in both counties.
Ferguson (28%) and Reichert (31%) both top Bird in Benton County.
And while Bird holds a narrow lead over Ferguson (22%) in Franklin County, Reichert (32%) holds a commanding lead in that county as well.
Benton County will update its vote count at 4 p.m. Wednesday and Franklin County will have an updated count at 5 p.m.
Campaign so far
Bird, a behavioral scientist from Richland, has emerged as a populist playmaker and change agent in this year’s race for governor, rallying Washington’s dedicated MAGA base to his cause early on.
He entered the race in November 2022, announcing his first statewide candidacy from the Rotunda of the Washington State Capitol. He was one of the first candidates to file.
Despite calls from senior Republicans in Washington to withdraw early now that Reichert’s candidacy was imminent, Bird continued his campaign at dozens of events in the Cascade Mountains.
After Richland voters forcefully recalled Bird from his school board seat in August 2023 — the only elected office he has ever held — over a questionable vote on COVID masks, he doubled down on his campaign for governor, claiming he had done nothing wrong and asking for donations.
Bird also brushed aside several controversies that came to light during his campaign, including allegations of stolen exploits from his time in the military, a felony conviction for lying on a credit application and an arrest in connection with a missing revolver turned in by police.
Although Bird won the state party’s endorsement at a raucous Washington State Republican Party convention in April, his campaign failed to gain momentum at the polls or with financial donors.
Several professional political polls conducted since the beginning of the year have placed Bird between 7 and 11 percent, while Ferguson and Reichert have come in much higher. Although the Richland Republican initially had a modest cash honeymoon, contributions have slowed.
Ferguson and Reichert have raised a lot of money from backers in recent weeks, both around $300,000. By comparison, Bird has raised just a tenth of that — around $30,000 — with just $20,800 in cash on hand, as reported on July 29.
Ferguson is Washington’s 18th attorney general, since 2013, and previously served on the King County Council. His work as the state’s top law enforcement official was central in 2017, when Ferguson led a coalition to successfully block the Trump administration’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.
Reichert served seven terms as a U.S. Representative from Washington’s 8th congressional district and is the former sheriff of King County. He worked in law enforcement for three decades and is known for his work in tracking down and capturing the Green River Killer in 2001.
Democrat Mark Mullet is the Issaquah senator running as a moderate alternative to Ferguson in the race for governor. So far, he has 6% of the vote, or about 59,000 ballots.
