Rough night for Seattle incumbents, moderates: 5 takeaways from Washington's 2025 primary election

County election officials around Washington state began releasing vote tallies Tuesday evening.

So far, early results indicate that a slate of progressive newcomers will face off against moderate incumbents in several key Seattle races this November. King County’s government will see a changing of the guard. Property taxes are probably going up in those areas, too.

And, in a handful of closely watched legislative races, incumbents were mostly leading their challenges. This year’s primary election features only local races — mayors, city councils, state legislative seats, levy proposals — and officials predicted low voter turnout, which tends to happen in years when there aren’t big, splashy races like president or governor on the ballot.

Progressives were hoping President Trump’s federal moves would swing local voters in the opposite direction — and so far that appears to be happening. Conservatives counted on state-level Democratic tax hikes to push a few open state Senate seats to the Republican or moderate column — but that didn’t look likely Tuesday night.


https://www.kuow.org/stories/2025-primary-election-seattle-king-county-washington-voting-takeaways