Work with Gary for More Community, Less Olympia

Unlike 1994, when Washington state was among the states who threw out the incumbents in the last Republican wave, state politics were little affected by the national mood. In the end, Democrats easily maintained control of Olympia though Republicans did gain a little ground in the state as a whole. Republican picked up five seats in the state house and four state senate seats. House Democrats would emerge with a 56-42 majority and Senate Democrats would have a 27-22 majority if the current close races all go, as expected, to Democrats. In this regard, Washington has become less like the rest of the nation and more like California.

In the nation as a whole, 20 different state legislatures went from Democrat control to Republican control. The "wave" affecting the control of the House in DC was even bigger in most state legislatures, electing from 650-700 new legislators.

However, Washington is now more like California. In California, not a single Democrat incumbent lost election despite 75% of the voters thinking the state is going the wrong direction and only 18% giving their state legislatures good grades.