Dye, Goulet take top two in 9th District

COLFAX - Incumbent Republican Mary Dye of Pomeroy and Democratic challenger Jennifer Goulet of Pasco took the top two spots Tuesday in Washington's 9th Legislative District primary election.

Their House Position 1 race was the only contested primary in southeastern Washington.

The 9th District includes all of Adams, Asotin, Garfield and Whitman counties, most of Franklin County and part of Spokane County. Dye, who was first appointed to office last year, received 7,671 votes, or 57 percent, compared to 4,189 votes and 31 percent for Goulet.

Hailey Roemer, making her first run at elected office, was in third place after the initial count, with 1,580 votes, or 12 percent.

Additional mail-in ballots will be tabulated Friday. The final results will be certified Aug. 19, with the two candidates who receive the most votes moving on to the Nov. 8 general election.

"I'm pleased with the results," Dye said Tuesday evening. "Now we have a clear path forward to November and know what our race will look like."

Democrats make up about a third of the voters in the 9th District, she said, and the primary results were consistent with that.

"They're loyal to their candidate, and I think she (Goulet) does a good job representing them," Dye said.

Goulet, 39, was a local organizer for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. Like Roemer, this is her first run at elected office.

"It's been very fun and at times stressful," she said. "It's definitely given me some insight into how things will go in the general election. I think people are just excited to have a progressive candidate (on the ballot)."

Roemer, 21, ran as a Republican. Saying she wanted to represent everyone in the district, she positioned herself as the "holistic" candidate who wasn't as liberal or progressive as Goulet, nor as conservative as Dye.

In other election night results, Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler of Ritzville and Rep. Joe Schmick of Colfax were unopposed in their 9th District re-election bids.

In local races, Whitman County Commissioners Art Swannack and Dean Kinzer were also unopposed, as was Gary Libey of Colfax. Libey is looking to replace Superior Court Judge David Frazier, who will retire this year after more than 30 years on the bench.

Voter turnout ranged from about 15 percent in Franklin County to 38 percent in Garfield County. About 3,000 ballots are left to be counted, which would boost overall turnout by about 3 percent.

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Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.