Smiley headed to Nov. 8 general election

PASCO - A local farmgirl appears to be headed to the Nov. 8 general election.

Challenger Tiffany Smiley, R-Pasco, was sitting in second place in the race for a U.S. Senate seat behind incumbent Patty Murray, D-Shoreline, at the end of the first day of counting in the Tuesday, Aug. 2, general election.

Smiley held a commanding lead in Franklin County, but trailed statewide.

The early tally showed Murray had 557,978 votes, or 54%, and Smiley had received 330,176 votes, or 31.96%.

Leon Lawson, who prefers the Trump Republican Party, was a distant third with 33,389 votes, or 3.23%.

Republican John Guenther was fourth with 31,191 votes, or 3.02%.

None of the remaining 14 candidates reached 1% voter support.

Only the Top 2 candidates advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

Locally, Smiley dominated the field with 5,732 votes, or 59.80%. That's more than double the tally of second-place Murray, who had 2,538 votes, or 26.485.

Statewide, 4.04 million ballots have been sent out to voters, but only 1.05 million have been counted.

Late-arriving ballots will continue to be counted over the next couple weeks prior to certification.

Author Bio

Roger Harnack, Publisher

Roger Harnack is owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.

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