Democrats gaining on GOP opponents in 2 closely watched Central WA legislative races

Races for seats representing Washington's lone Latino-majority legislative district have tightened in the week since the Nov. 5 general election .

While election night results gave three Republicans a decisive lead, ballots cast on election day and counted the days since have trended toward their Democratic opponents. While Republicans lead, the races still appear too close to call.

State Sen. Curtis King is seeking a fifth term representing the 14th Legislative District, while Deb Manjarrez and Gloria Mendoza are seeking to replace two retiring Republican legislators in the House.

With results posted Tuesday night, King leads Democratic challenger Maria Beltran in the state Senate race by 1,240 votes, or 4 percentage points.

Meanwhile, Manjarrez leads Democrat Ana Ruiz Kennedy of Pasco in the race for state Representative Pos. 2 by just 573 votes, or 2 percentage points.

But Mendoza still has a decisive lead over Democrat Chelsea Dimas in the race for state Representative Pos. 1 with 2,649 votes, or 9 percentage points.

There are still nearly 12,000 ballots left to count across the four counties — Benton, Franklin, Klickitat and Yakima — that make up Washington's 14th Legislative District. More than 31,000 ballots have been counted so far in the races.

The late support for Democrats may signal a rebuff of "vile and offensive" text messages that were sent to Spanish-speaking voters in the Yakima Valley and Tri-Cities in the final days of the campaign.

Those messages, paid for by the Washington State Republican Party, said the three Democratic Latina candidates wanted to "eliminate the Spanish language" and "support the chemical castration of your children in school without your knowledge or support."

A win by Democrats would prove vindication over a chaotic and confusing redistricting process that centered around Latino representation in the Yakima Valley region. Democrats haven't represented parts of the valley in the Legislature for three decades now.

Last year, a U.S. federal court in Seattle ruled that a map drafted by the bipartisan 2021 Washington Redistricting Commission diluted Latino voting power and "cracked" apart populations in the region, and ordered it redrawn. A judge redrew the map in March after asking the commission to reconvene.

Republicans have criticized the remedial map drawn by the court , calling it a clear partisan gerrymander that aimed to benefit Democrats in a part of the state they have seen historic electoral losses.

Latinos move toward the GOP At play is also the shift of Latino voting preferences toward the Republican Party, a realignment that has built up in recent years and has been highlighted following Vice President Kamala Harris' loss to President-elect Donald Trump last week.

Trump's messaging on the economy in recent months resonated with Latino men, civil rights leaders told The Associated Press this week . A survey conducted in July by the Pew Research Center found Latino voters were equally split on Trump and President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the 2024 race.

But progressives argue Latinos — the fastest growing demographic in both the Yakima Valley and Tri-Cities — have been electorally marginalized. The new 14th Legislative District — where 65% of voting-age residents are Hispanic and Democrats won the past two presidential elections by a combined 10 points — aims to help correct that.

Turnout in the district remains incredibly low. Just 24% of registered voters returned ballots in the August 2024 primary election — the lowest of any of Washington's 49 legislative district. And just 51% of general election voters have cast ballots in the legislative district races, though there are ballots still outstanding.

The 14th also has the fewest number of registered voters in the state at just 61,500, despite having a voting-age population of 106,800.

By comparison, the neighboring 15 district — which represents some of the whiter parts of the Yakima Valley, such as Naches, Selah, Zillah and Prosser — has 93,500.

The district covers a vast geographic range, stretching from the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers to the snow-covered peaks of Mount Adams.

It includes parts of several communities, including Pasco, Finley, Grandview, Sunnyside, Toppenish, Yakima, Goldendale and most of the Yakama Indian Reservation. The district splits and shares the Yakima Valley with the 15th Legislative District, the state's previous Latino-majority district.