SPOKANE, Wash – Michael Baumgartner and Carmela Conroy lead the votes Tuesday night in the race to represent Washington’s 5th District in Congress.
The winner will replace Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers who has occupied the seat since 2005.
As of Tuesday night, Baumgartner leads with 28.14% of the vote. Conroy has 19.71% of the vote.
Jacquelin Maycumber has 12.21% of the vote and Bernadine Bank has 11.66%.
Maycumber expressed hope that incoming ballots may sway the results in her favor.
“This primary has taught us that we were never ahead in the start, but the momentum has been growing for weeks. The initial results show our message is resonating with voters and I am confident in the subsequent counts the late ballot returns will push us into the top two,” said Maycumber.
Baumgartner currently serves as Spokane County treasurer. He previously served in the state senate.
He ran against Senator Maria Cantwell in 2011 and lost.
This is Conroy’s first run for office. She’s the former chair of the Spokane Democratic Party.
She’s worked as a foreign service officer and as a deputy prosecutor for Spokane County.
As Baumgartner looks ahead to the general election, he is focused on border security and inflation.
“Inflation is killing families in eastern Washington. I have five kids. We know exactly what it’s like in my household to go to the grocery story. These days, it’s so much more expensive than it used to be, and so we need to advocate for policies that help working families, and we’ll be doing that,” said Baumgartner.
Conroy is also focused on affordability, as well as other social justice issues.
“Making sure that marriage equality and access to birth control and other reproductive health remains on the table for everybody in the United States, no matter what state they live in, because those are some fundamental individual freedoms,” said Conroy.
More votes will be counted in the next several days across the district, which covers the easternmost counties of Washington.
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