Politics & Government

Updated: Bergquist Headed to General Election for House District 11 Seat

Republican Sarah Sanoy-Wright maintained her second-place position in the race that had all five candidates raising more than $425,000. Meanwhile, the Cedar River library location still had 76 percent support of voters.

teacher Steve Bergquist is headed to the general election for House District 11, Position 2.

Bergquist, a Democrat, received 28 percent of the vote.

Republican Sarah Sanoy-Wright maintained her second-place position, with 24.5 percent of the vote, according to updated primary election results released Wednesday by King County Elections.

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Just 1.5 percentage points, or 208 votes, behind her was Democrat Stephanie Bowman, with nearly 23 percent. (Their ranking didn't change from Tuesday's first batch of results.)

Sanoy-Wright, a small-business owner, said in an email Wednesday to Patch, "I am pleased with the results and congratulate all candidates in District 11 to a very close race. We have lots of work in the coming months."

Find out what's happening in Rentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bergquist and Sanoy-Wright emerged from a crowded field of five candidates vying for the seat vacated by Rep. Bob Hasegawa, who is running for state Senate.

Bergquist said Wednesday he was very happy with the results and thanked his volunteer campaign team.

“It’s such a community-based, grass-roots effort, and we overcame a mountain of money,” he said, referring to the $300,000 spent in the campaign by all candidates.

Bergquist’s campaign spent $40,474, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission, while Sanoy-Wright spent a mere $1,728. Renton dentist Bobby Virk spent the most, pouring in about $200,000.

Bergquist, a 12th-grade contemporary world issues teacher and tennis coach, said he would focus on education, jobs and health care. “They’re all going to be important,” he said.

Here are the District 11 results released Wednesday by King County Elections:

House District 11, Pos. 2

Candidate Vote Total Vote % Steve Bergquist 3,772
28.23
Sarah Sanoy-Wright 3,275
24.51
Stephanie Bowman 3,067
22.96
Bobby Virk
1,903
14.24
Rob Holland
1,326
9.93
Totals
13,343 100

The top two finishers advance to the general election. King County will release new election results at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Also Wednesday, the support for the Cedar River library held steady with 76 percent in favor. (Patch will have a separate story on that later Wednesday.)

Here are updated results Wednesday from other Renton races. Both candidates in each race advance to the general election.

Senate 11 Vote Total Vote % Bob Hasegawa 9,182 67.98
Kristin Thompson 4,304
31.86
House 11, Pos. 1

Zack Hudgins 7,819
68.58
Jim Flynn 3,370
29.56
House 33, Pos. 1

Tina Orwall 9,602
71.48
Will Benge 3,796
28.26
House 37, Pos. 2

Eric Pettigrew 12,480
85.11
Tamra Smilanich 2,103
14.34
Senate 41

Steve Litzow 11,939
57.54
Maureen Judge 8,775
42.29
House 41, Pos. 1

Marcie Maxwell 11,732
56.88
Tim Eaves 8,875
43.03


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