Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, left, and House Minority Leader Signed StokesbaryR-Auburn, meets with reporters ahead of the 2024 legislative session (Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)
Voters sent a clear signal during Tuesday’s primaries: they want a Republican senator in the 2nd Legislative District.
And their choice now is the shameless conservative, Jim McCunenot the person recruited by the Republican Senate leader to run against him.
McCune is running for a second term in the Senate neighborhood that is home to Mount Rainier and parts of Thurston and Pierce counties. He overcome the challenge from Republican Ronda Litzenberger, who had the support of Senate Minority Leader John Braun.
“They claim to be a big tent, but when it comes to being conservative, they’re a small tent. They’re going to need us,” McCune said of social conservatives. “If they don’t have us, the Democrats are going to end up with a supermajority.”
The race reflects a broader dynamic in this year’s primaries, where a handful of conservative candidates advance after fending off more moderate Republican challengers backed by the leadership or caucuses of the Senate and House Republicans. In some cases, caucus-backed candidates faced opponents backed by the state Republican Party.
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“There’s a tension there. You have a tug of war between leadership or establishment, call it what you want, and the community leaders and the grassroots Republican voter who is more MAGA-oriented and populist,” said Steve Gordon, a major party donor and Pierce County Republican activist.
Braun assessed it this way: “We seem to disagree on some points.”
Republican activists, lawmakers and party leaders expect the primary skirmishes to have little lasting impact. They are counting on those who voted Republican in the primary to still vote for the GOP candidate this fall.
But many more voters of all political persuasions will turn out in the general election. In a handful of crucial races, the concern is whether the Republicans elected this week can win in November. If not, the party could lose seats and fall further into the minority in the legislature.
Dave McMullan, chairman of the Pierce County Republican Party, said the common goal should be to elect Republicans.
“We have to get over this bickering about what the perfect candidate is,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the faction wants or what the party wants. The voters decide. That’s the crux of the matter.”
A spokesman for a political committee that supports Democratic candidates and has raised nearly $1 million from statewide unions and Democratic legislative groups sees an opportunity to expand the party’s majorities in the Legislature, which are 29-20 in the Senate and 58-40 in the House.
“Now Republicans are stuck with far-right MAGA candidates with extremist ties and bizarre conspiracy theories,” said Jared Leopold of the New direction political committee. “This is a clear loss for the Republican leadership in the legislature, and it will cost them seats in November.”
Surprising setbacks
The 18th Legislative District in Clark County is a battlefield in the Senate due to the resignation of Republican Senator Ann Rivers.
Democrat Adrian Cortes won the primary with 46.5 percent. Republican Brad Benton, son of former state legislator Don Benton, took 31 percent, easily defeating state Rep. Greg Cheney, who had been endorsed early by the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. The caucus and its allies spent $370,000 in support of Cheney.
Braun said the state party paid for “very negative” mailers against Cheney. “That’s the one thing I was pretty disappointed about.”
He denied what is happening with that race now.
“We are not committed to or opposed to supporting Brad Benton in the General Assembly,” he said. “The question is whether this is the best investment to retain seats.”
Three candidates strongly supported by the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives – Yvonne Gallardo-Van Ornam in the 10th District, Philip Johnson in the 18th District and Jim Henderson in the 26th – failed to advance, finishing behind a Democrat and a more conservative Republican in each race.
“Sometimes our views align with the voters’ views,” said House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn. “Those who make progress will be better than the Democrat in any race.”
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He expressed confidence that the faction can retain its 40 seats, noting that the percentage of votes cast for Republicans in those districts was more than 50%.
Stokesbary said the caucus “absolutely” will back Carrie Kennedy in the 10th District, which includes Island County and parts of Skagit and Snohomish Counties. John Ley, who carried the 18th District, will be endorsed.
The 26th District in Pierce County is a less clear-cut issue. It is an open seat after Rep. Spencer Hutchins opted not to run again. Jesse Young, a former state legislator who is seeking to return to Olympia, and Democrat Adison Richards are advancing to the general election.
But Young lost favor with caucus leaders because he worked in the primaries to defeat incumbent Republican Rep. Michelle Caldier. There is bad blood between the two, as Caldier has been a fervent supporter of Henderson and predicted on Facebook this week that Richards would win in November.
Richards received 49.5% of the vote on Thursday, followed by Young with 34.8% and Henderson with 15.6%.
Stokesbary did not rule out putting money into the race. It is a seat the caucus wants to keep.
“We want to elect Republicans,” Stokesbary said. “If Jesse wants our support and wants to be part of our team, we’ll be happy to support him.”
