Congressman Adam Smith Leads the Race for Newly Drawn Ninth District

In early returns, incumbent U.S. 9th District Congressman Adam Smith (D-Tacoma) led all challengers, with more than 60 percent of the vote in primary election night returns, according to the Secretary of State's Office and King County Elections results.

Early returns showed Smith leading by nearly 30 percentage points over his nearest competitor, Republican Jim Postma, a margin of more than 24,000 votes as of 8:55 p.m. Tuesday.

The newly redistricted 9th District now runs from Tacoma north to Seattle and east to Bellevue and Mercer Island, and straddles both King and Pierce counties.

The state has a top-two primary system, which means the three other candidates in the race who finished behind Smith and Postma — Tom Cramer, Dave Cristie and John Orlinski — are eliminated from the general election — regardless of party affiliation.

Washington Secretary of State Results 8:45 p.m. Tuesday

In the only U.S. Senate race on Tuesday's ballot, Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, had gathered 52.2 percent of the vote as of 8:30 p.m. Her challenger likely will be Republican state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, who had pulled in 32.6 percent of the ballots counted.

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