Filing has now closed for Washington state’s primary. The only statewide race up this year is U.S. Senator. All the other federal and state offices are district races, including 9 U.S. House races, 25 State Senate races, and 98 State House races. See the list of candidates here.
The Constitution Party has two candidates for U.S. House, and one for the legislature. The Green Party has one candidate for U.S. House, and one for the legislature. The Reform Party has one candidate for U.S. Senate. No Libertarians are running for any federal or state office. No one from the Socialist Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, or the Freedom Socialist Party, is running, even though all four of those parties have an organization in Washington state. Nor is anyone from the Progressive Party running.
Independent candidates in Washington cannot just have “Independent” on the ballot next to their names. They must either choose “No party preference” or “Prefers Independent Party.” Most independent candidates went with the latter choice.
There are also candidates who have chosen labels that include a preference for parties that do not actually exist as organizations, such as the Bull Moose Party, the Centrist Party, and the G.O.P. Party. An “organization” is a group that has officers and bylaws and, generally, a method to determine who is a member, whether that be formal or informal. One candidate for U.S. House says he prefers the Tea Party.
Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed will not be publishing a Voters Pamphlet this year for the primary, due to budgetary constraints. There will, as usual, be a pamphlet for the general election.
