Nine contenders for one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional seats faced off in Washington state’s primary on Tuesday, competing for two spots on November’s general election ballot under the state’s top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear together regardless of party.
The Associated Press reported that voters across the state were also choosing finalists for the state’s nine other congressional seats, along with contests for the state Legislature and state Supreme Court. Election Day fell on Tuesday, 4th August, with the deadline for the secretary of state to certify primary results set for 21st August, as a total of 688 races and 1,334 candidates appeared on ballots statewide.
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The most closely watched contest centred on the 3rd Congressional District, where Democratic Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a former auto shop co-owner first elected narrowly in 2022, sought re-election as the best-known and best-funded of four Democrats on the ballot. She faced challenges from three Republicans, including state Senate Minority Leader John Braun, who carries a significant endorsement from US President Donald Trump, in a southwest Washington district widely expected to be a key House battleground this autumn.
A separate contest drew unusually broad attention in the 4th Congressional District, where voters chose a new representative for the first time in more than a decade. Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, one of the last House Republicans who had voted to impeach Trump in January 2021, announced in December 2025 that he would not seek re-election, prompting more than ten candidates to enter the race, with Matt Boehnke, Amanda McKinney and Jerrod Sessler emerging among the top fundraisers.
A twelfth-district contest, meanwhile, saw Republican Congressman Michael Baumgartner attempting to hold his 5th District seat against a field of more than twelve challengers, including multiple Democrats and independents competing for one of the two spots on November’s ballot.
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Newhouse’s decision to step aside left Republicans and Democrats alike eyeing a district without an incumbent for the first time since the last redistricting cycle, intensifying the scramble among more than ten hopefuls. Sessler previously challenged Newhouse directly in 2024 and lost that contest, before entering this year’s open race alongside Boehnke and McKinney as one of the field’s leading fundraisers. With so many candidates splitting the vote, strategists in both parties have said the top-two format makes the outcome unusually difficult to forecast compared with typical single-party primaries elsewhere in the country.
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Unlike most states, Washington has conducted its elections entirely by mail since 2011, meaning registered voters receive ballots automatically rather than needing to request one. Ballots returned by mail needed to be postmarked by 4th August, while voters could also deposit them at official drop boxes open until 8pm on Election Day, with county canvassing boards required to certify results by 18th August ahead of the state’s final certification deadline.
Because the top-two system advances the leading two finishers regardless of party affiliation, several of Washington’s most competitive districts could plausibly see two candidates from the same party advance to November, a scenario analysts say could reshape how national attention treats the state’s House delegation heading into the general election. Full results from Tuesday’s vote were still being tabulated as ballots continued to arrive and be counted in the days following the primary, with the closely watched 3rd District race expected to draw particular scrutiny once final tallies are confirmed.
