Democratic candidate Steve Hobbs won his primary race for the state Senate after opponent Lillian Kaufer conceded the race Thursday.
Hobbs extended his lead to 560 votes over Kaufer in results posted Thursday for the 44th Legislative District. The district includes Mill Creek, Lake Stevens, Snohomish and Marysville.
“I called Steve and congratulated him on his win,” she said. “I’m not going to contest the ballots or ask for a recount or anything. I endorsed him and we will continue to work on Democratic issues.”
Hobbs led Kaufer 4,666 votes to 4,106.
Snohomish County elections officials had counted 89,559 ballots through Thursday. They expect to count as many as 39,000 more as ballots continue to be received in the mail.
Hobbs will face Republican state Sen. Dave Schmidt in the 44th Legislative District on Nov. 7.
Hobbs said Kaufer ran a spirited campaign that helped invigorate the Democratic base in the district.
“It’s clear that Democrats are coming together,” Hobbs said. “We’re unified, and we’re going to move forward to the general election and bring change to Olympia.”
Kaufer’s concession ends an effort by Rick DeWitt, a member of the 44th Legislative District Democrats who wanted to count rejected partisan votes in the Hobbs-Kaufer race.
The 44th District Democrats is a group made up of precinct committee officers and other party supporters.
The votes were rejected because voters failed to choose a political party.
State law requires a voter pick a political party in order for officials to legally count their votes for Republicans and Democratic candidates.
DeWitt said he would have continued his push to count votes if the vote spread had been narrower and if Kaufer hadn’t conceded.
“We have someone we need to get into office, that’s Steve now,” DeWitt said. “I don’t want to distract from that.”
DeWitt argues that voters who picked a straight party line should have their votes considered. Kaufer agreed, but said that counting those rejected ballots wouldn’t change the outcome of her race.
DeWitt said he was told by county Auditor Bob Terwilliger that he couldn’t present his case at the county elections canvassing board next week.
Michael Hughes, chairman of the 44th Legislative District Democrats, said if the vote spread narrows the party would still consider challenging the ballots.
In Snohomish County, 12,598 voters failed to choose a party affiliation or altogether skipped the partisan candidates. Only their nonpartisan votes were counted.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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