A recount has confirmed Democrat Adrian Cortes’ victory in a fierce contest for an open seat within the Washington state Senate.
Cortes, a Battle Floor council member, defeated Republican Brad Benton by 173 votes following a machine recount of ballots forged within the 18th Legislative District in southwest Washington.
Preliminary licensed outcomes confirmed Cortes profitable by 172 votes, a distinction of 0.2%. He added one vote within the recount carried out Monday.
Cortes will succeed retiring Republican Sen. Ann Rivers and, when he enters workplace in January, he’ll turn into the primary Democrat to symbolize the legislative district in additional than a era.
The duel between Cortes and Benton, the son of former state senator Don Benton, was a pricey one with the candidates and out of doors pursuits combining to spend almost $2 million to sway voters. It was the one race for a legislative or statewide workplace within the November election that required votes to be retallied.
“In one of the most expensive legislative races in the state, we did what some thought couldn’t be done,” Cortes stated. “After a free and fair election our message won the day; now I’ll focus on serving the people well in the state Senate.”
State regulation requires a machine recount when the distinction between candidates is lower than 2,000 votes and likewise lower than half of 1% of the entire votes forged for each candidates.
With Cortes’ win, the Senate Democratic Caucus will acquire one seat within the 2025 session and outnumber Republicans by a margin of 30-19.