Lennon Bronsema, WCA vice president for campaigns:
What an evening. Yesterday was the culmination of a year’s work that began the day after last year’s election. Washington Conservation Action Votes invested heavily in the electoral cycle. We wanted to ensure that pro-environment voices filled three State Senate seats, defended environmental champions at the County level from Spokane to Vancouver, and laid down the infrastructure to continue winning in areas critical to meeting our energy needs responsibly. Votes will continue to be counted over the next weeks, but as of election night we are in a strong position.
Washington State Takeaways
Odd years in Washington State have local elections critical to implementation of environmental progress. This year was unique—there were nine special elections for the state legislature. Based on the early returns, it looks like we won eight of the special elections (one of which was too close to call). In the three Senate races, there were clear distinctions about commitment to environmental progress and revenue. We won them all.
We also saw progress in areas that we lost by large margins in previous elections. The most dramatic example is a Whatcom County Council race that we won by 13 points on election night.
There are a few takeaways. We see that voters wanted to show their opposition to the actions of the President. But also, and possibly more importantly, they voted in favor of candidates who were promising action from the state, county, and local governments. Voters in Washington don’t want a small government; they want a government that works for them.
Outside of Washington State
Results from elections outside of Washington State were also very telling about the current political landscape. Virginia elected its first female governor, Abigail Spanberger. The gubernatorial election in New Jersey marks the first time that Democrats have held the governor position three times in a row. New York City elected its first Muslim Democratic Socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Mary Scheffield was elected as the first female mayor of Detroit. All of these elections, as well as the retention of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, all point to higher Democratic enthusiasm than Republican enthusiasm this year.
It’s too early to understand simply from these races what was happening with the electorate. All of these races had big money, a mix of many candidates, or flawed candidates. However, the results of the Public Utility District victory in Georgia, the progressive taxes passing in Colorado, the numerous pick-ups down ballot across the country by those running away from Trump, and the data all point to the start of a positive trend.
It’s our responsibility to keep the momentum going by pushing those elected to stand up for the environment and democracy. Election day is not the finish line, it’s simply the start.
Washington is an all vote-by-mail state and ballots are counted if they are post-marked by midnight on November 4th, rather than received by Election Day. That means ballots will continue to arrive and be processed well after Election Day. In close elections, it is common to not know the outcome for as much as a week after the election.
Tony Ivey, WCA political and democracy senior manager:
Here are my takeaways: We celebrate the successful rout of a tech millionaire’s attempt to buy Woodinville City Council. We endorsed early (pre-Primary) against him and his three other “Democratic Woodinville” PAC candidates into whose campaigns he poured $250,000. All massively unsuccessful with 20 point leads by our endorsed candidates. Voters chose pro-environment candidates despite a Musk-alike spending his fortune to buy a 13,000 person town.
We had major wins in mayoral races. WCA invested in mayors around the state who were committed to growing the green local economy. Longtime clean fuels champion Anders Ibsen won the mayoral race in Tacoma. Emerging green leader Elizabeth Grasher unseated former Republican State Representative Dick Muri for Steilacoom Mayor. Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle won reelection.
