Democrat Leads in Key Washington Senate Race

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On Tuesday night, Democrat Manka Dhingra took an early lead in a U.S State Senate race that will resolve the balance of power at the Washington statehouse. The state will join Oregon and California with the Democratic one-party rule in both legislative chambers and the governor’s office if the results hold and the Washington Senate go off the deep end. The first posting of ballots indicates Dhingra leading Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund with 55% of the vote. The ballots just need to be postmarked or dropped off by Tuesday under the vote-by-mail system of the state, which means that final results may not be known for days. The next ballot update is set for late Wednesday afternoon. Republicans currently control the U.S Senate by a single seat with the help of a Democrat who supports Republicans, so the Democrats hold a slim majority in the House.

The Race was held on Tuesday for the 45th District. It has been considered one of eight special elections for the state Legislature. It has broken entire previous legislative records in the state due to the understanding of the outcome. On Monday, at least $8.7 million had been spent on the race, with much of it about $5.9 million being spent by third-party groups. Englund said that due to the vote-by-mail system of the state and the intense national focus on the race. She added that most of the district’s inundated voters got their ballots in later and that the gap will tighten as more votes are counted. She indicated that it is a very big decision for voters. The race isn’t about me. It’s about the balance of power.