EVERETT — It happened again Wednesday.

Republican John Koster of Arlington bested Democrat Rick Larsen of Everett in a primary election for a seat in Congress.

Koster was the top vote-getter in the race for the 2nd Congressional District with Larsen close behind in the final primary results released Wednesday. In the Snohomish County part of the district, he outpolled the five-term incumbent by 3,000 votes.

“It’s a confidence boost,” said Koster, a Snohomish County Councilman.

A decade ago, Koster also beat Larsen in the primary when the two dueled for the same seat. But Larsen won in the general election and has served ever since in the House of Representatives.

Koster predicts a different outcome in two months.

“This time around we’ve got a better campaign. It’s bigger, it’s better, it’s stronger,” he said.

Larsen, who has not been severely tested by an opponent in awhile, sounded confident that he can earn another term in the district that stretches north from Everett to the Canadian border. It includes parts of Snohomish and King counties and all of Island, Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties.

He said he didn’t invest a lot of resources into the primary and begins the final 10 weeks of the campaign with at least $500,000 more than Koster.

“We started focusing on the general (election) a long time ago,” Larsen said. “I’m in a better position to win than he is. There is going to be a clear choice for voters this fall.”

Beyond this race, Wednesday’s results show Snohomish County voters tilted against incumbent Democrats and, in many cases, toward Republican candidates. Overall, 145,160 people cast ballots for a turnout of 38.6 percent of the county’s registered voters.

The biggest upset came in the 38th Legislative District, where state Sen. Jean Berkey, D-Everett, finished third and won’t be defending her seat. She is the only state lawmaker to lose re-election in the primary.

Nick Harper, a liberal Democrat, won and will face Rod Rieger, a conservative Republican, in the district that includes Everett and part of Marysville. Both men are first-time candidates.

Berkey, who trails Rieger by 122 votes, may not be done fighting.

She said she may pay for a recount. She also has filed a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission alleging an independent political committee violated election law in its campaign against her. She said its actions misled voters and she’s figuring out her next step.

“Our campaign has retained an attorney,” she said.

In the 44th Legislative District, Republican Dave Schmidt finished 147 votes ahead of state Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, who took office in 2006 by unseating Schmidt.

Trailing them were two other candidates, Democrat Lillian Kaufer and Republican Ryan Ferrie in the district encompassing Mill Creek, Snohomish, Lake Stevens and part of Marysville.

Schmidt said he lost partly because of the political climate in 2006 and a national wave of support for Democratic candidates. This year there is a wind at the back of Republicans that he hopes pushes him back into office.

He’ll need a strong breeze to make up for a disparity in campaign funds. As of Wednesday, he’d raised $23,000 to Hobbs’ $223,000.

Hobbs said he felt good with the primary, noting he was targeted in attack mailers by both statewide labor unions and the state Republican Party.

“I think it’s a vindication of the job I’ve done,” he said of the election results.

Looking ahead, he said, it’s a good sign for November that the total of votes cast for the two Democrats in the race exceeded the sum of those cast for the Republican candidates.

For state Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, the primary reveals he’ll need to work to win another term. He beat Republican challengers Bob McCaughan and Shahram Hadian but only collected 47.9 percent of the votes.

McCaughan finished second, winning a third of the votes with while spending only a couple of thousand dollars.

“The fact that two unknowns got over 50 percent against a well-, well-, well-known individual speaks for itself,” McCaughan said. But he said he’s yet to be contacted by Republican Party strategists about making a serious run at Dunshee.

“If the money doesn’t come from Republicans, I think they will have missed a play,” he said.

In other primary results, Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, topped three challengers and will face Republican Elizabeth Scott in the 21st District that takes in Edmonds, Mukilteo and part of Lynnwood.

Liias wound up with just half the votes in a district that historically backs Democrats. State Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Lynnwood, received 56 percent and state Sen. Paull Shin had 62 percent in their respective primaries this year.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Complete results online

A complete list of results in Snohomish County can be found online at www.snoco.org/elections and for the state at www.secstate.wa.gov.