Democrat advances in Washington lands commissioner election following recount

A difference of 49 votes determined who clinched a spot on the November ballot in the race for the state’s next commissioner of public lands, a race some say was the closest election Washington has seen.

In Washington’s first statewide ballot recount in a primary election since 1960, Democrat Dave Upthegrove barely edged out Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson to secure a spot on the general election ballot in the race for the state office that manages millions of acres of public lands.

Upthegrove, a King County council member, will join Republican and former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler on the general election ballot this fall.

Herrera Beutler lost her seat representing southwest Washington’s 3rd District in Congress after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role inciting the storm on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The former congresswoman took first in the Aug. 6 primary race for lands commissioner, but the razor-thin margin between second-place Upthegrove and third-place Kuehl Pederson in that election caused a statewide recount.

The recount results have spurred backlash from state Republican Party leadership that claimed the election lacked integrity when the results were made public this week.

Last month, a 51-vote divide between Upthegrove and Kuehl Pederson deemed the race too close to call for days after the Aug. 6 primary.

The two candidates who come out on top after primary races for state executive offices in Washington always advance to the general election ballot, regardless of party.

On Aug. 20, the close results of the race triggered an automatic statewide ballot recount. Washington law mandates that elections with final vote margins smaller than a quarter of a percent will be automatically recounted by hand.

In recount results finalized by the secretary of state’s office Wednesday afternoon, Upthegrove had a total gain of roughly four votes compared to the original vote counts. Kuehl Pederson gained six votes in the recount.

When all 39 counties finished submitting their recount results, the Washington State Republican Party issued a statement questioning the integrity of the recount, specifically surrounding discrepancies in the time it took different counties to complete the recount process.

In the statement, GOP officials threatened to file lawsuits challenging recounts in specific counties.

“The WAGOP believes that some of these answers could affect the outcome of today’s certification of the hand recount,” the party wrote.

The Washington Secretary of State’s Office sent out a statement Wednesday afternoon announcing certification of the recount, upholding its legitimacy and pointing to a longstanding public document that directs elections officials to interpret and count votes.

“Variances, such as an overvote or undervote were identified during the manual recount which led to the overall change in the count,” wrote the secretary of state’s office. “These discrepancies were a result of careful examination of voter intent on some ballots.”

When he learned about the results of the recount Wednesday afternoon, Upthegrove said he “felt gratitude.”

“I’m thankful for the folks who not only helped me, you know, curing ballots and observing the recount, but very appreciative of the election workers in all these counties who put in overtime,” Upthegrove said in a phone interview.

“Curing” ballots refers to door-knocking and phone-calling done by campaign staff and volunteers to contact voters with ballots that weren’t counted due to signature mismatches or other errors.

The campaigns of Upthegrove and Kuehl Pederson both participated in ballot curing in the days leading up to the statewide recount.

Kuehl Pederson conceded the race without endorsing another candidate on Wednesday morning, but later that day, her campaign manager “rescinded” that statement via email, the Seattle Times reported.

In the original rescinding statement, Kuehl Pederson reportedly expressed “heartfelt gratitude” to all her supporters.

“While the campaign has concluded, Sue believes it laid a strong foundation for future progress,” the campaign reportedly wrote via email.

The state Commissioner of Public Lands serves a four-year term and oversees Washington’s massive Department of Natural Resources — an agency in charge of nearly 6 million acres of forests, beaches and other public lands.

The commissioner also runs all firefighting efforts on state-managed lands.

General election day is Nov. 5, and Washington ballots must be postmarked by that day or placed in official county-designated dropboxes no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day.