All eyes on this Central WA election. Will Dems flip 3 seats in hunt for supermajorities?

A battleground district in Central Washington has become a crucial ingredient in Democrats’ recipe to win supermajorities in the 2025 Legislature.

Three Republican-held seats in the 14th Legislative District are up for reelection this year, and Democrats feel bullish they can flip the seats with a slate of progressive Latina candidates.

Of the eight candidates running, Ana Ruiz Kennedy, a Democrat, is the only one from the Tri-Cities. She previously ran for the Franklin County Commission, but lost decisively in the 2020 general election .

She’s trying her hand now for a statewide position in the newly redrawn district that reaches into Pasco.

“We think this is something that has energized not only the region but the whole entire state around what is possible and getting better representation for the 14th,” Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, told the Tri-City Herald.

Washington Democrats are only 12 seats away — four in the state Senate and eight in the House — from earning supermajorities in the Legislature. They currently hold 29 of 49 seats in the Senate and 58 of 98 seats in the House.

Having a supermajority in each chamber would allow the party to pass changes to the state’s constitution, such as protections for abortion access or lowering the voter threshold to pass school bonds for construction.

“If the Democrats had a supermajority, it would be very hurtful to the people of the state,” argues Deb Manjarrez , a certified public accountant from Yakima, who’s running as a Republican in the 14th.

Democrats in recent years have had their eyes on multiple Republican-held seats across the state.

Those include the 10th Legislative District in Island County, the 12th District in Wenatchee and Chelan and the 17th District in Southwest Washington, Conrad said.

But the new Latino voter-majority district in Central Washington offers them something new, thanks in part to a contentious redistricting process that reorganized the region’s political makeup.

“The 14th has definitely moved to the top of our list as far as our efforts and our possibilities,” Conrad said, adding that it’s their “best opportunity” to pick up seats.

Eight candidates are running in the Aug. 6 primary for the district’s two House seats and one Senate seat.

More than $660,000 in contributions have been given so far to those candidates running — a figure that could balloon as Election Day nears.

“We’re giving it the full menu of support,” said Washington Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh, describing the Yakima Valley electorate as “common sense, blue-collar people.”

“To that regard, we are considering it a key district. But to say we’re worried or concerned is too much. We’re cautiously optimistic and confident that (our) candidates are going to win,” he said.

Longtime GOP stronghold

The district, a longtime Republican stronghold, covers a vast geographic range. It now stretches from the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers to the snow-covered peak of Mount Adams.

It includes parts of several communities, including Pasco, Finley, Grandview, Sunnyside, Toppenish, Yakima, Goldendale and most of the Yakama Indian Reservation. The district splits and shares the Yakima Valley with the 15th Legislative District, the state’s previous Latino-majority district.

Some have compared the district’s new, odd shape to that of an “octopus slithering along the ocean floor” with its tentacles strewn about.

The new map detailing boundaries of the 14th, as well as the state’s 48 other legislative districts, was ordered and approved by a federal judge in Seattle after a U.S. District Court judge found that earlier boundaries approved by the bipartisan Washington Redistricting Commission in 2021 violated the Voting Rights Act and diluted the vote of Latinos in the Yakima Valley.

The order quickly became a lightning rod for Washington state politicians, with Republicans denouncing it as a partisan gerrymander and Democrats blessing it as a benefit to Central Washington Latinos.

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to block WA maps ousting Central WA’s first Latina senator

Regardless of opinion, what’s become clear is that the process has played out to the benefit of Democrats in the 14th.

A composite of 2016 and 2020 election results listed on Dave’s Redistricting shows the party with a 10-point advantage over Republicans in the new district.

The new map made changes — some major, others minor — to 13 of Washington’s 49 legislative districts.

In all, more than a half-million voters changed districts, according to the Washington State Standard . That included five Republican lawmakers, among them state Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, the entire delegation of the 14th Legislative District.

Torres has two years left on her term representing the 15th despite the fact that she now lives in the new 16th District. She hasn’t said if she eventually plans to challenge a longstanding Republican in that district.

Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, first elected in 2014, will retire from the Legislature in pursuit of greener pastures at home in Goldendale once her term expires at the end of the year. Rep. Chris Corry was drawn into the 15th and is running for an open House seat in that district.

Sen. Curtis King is the only incumbent running in the 14th District.

Despite being drawn out of the district, King and his wife settled to move into a new home that’s 1.5 miles away from their previous home so that he could run for his seat.

“It means a lot to me,” the four-term Republican told the Herald. “I’ve worked very hard to develop relationships with people on both sides of the aisle.”

Flurry of campaign cash

Maria Beltran , a deputy director with the House Democratic Campaign Committee, is challenging King for his seat in the state Senate. She grew up in Yakima, a graduate of A.C. Davis High School, and served on Washington Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti’s transition team.

“We need someone in Olympia like me, who knows what it’s like to work hard to make ends meet. We need a senator who respects the value of your tax dollars and will work to lower costs for folks in Central Washington, “ Beltran, a first-time candidate, says in her voter guide statement.

Since there are just two candidates, both King and Beltran will qualify for the general election in what’s expected to be one of the most closely watched legislative races this year. The winner will be elected to a four-year term.

King remains the financial front runner, according to Public Disclosure Commission filings . He’s raised more than $244,000, mostly from businesses and political action committees, since starting his reelection bid in 2021.

Most of his war chest was raised in prior years. He’s raised only about $36,000 since January. But as of June 1 , he had more than $192,000 in cash on hand.

Beltran has more than $136,000 in contributions since February. Most of those donations came from individual Democrats, labor unions and political action committees. She had nearly $50,000 cash on hand as of June 1.

State House races

Republicans Gloria Mendoza and Andy Kallinen , as well as Democrat Chelsea Dimas , are running for the district’s State Representative Pos. 1 seat.

Mendoza, the former Grandview mayor, is the financial front runner in this race. She’s received $87,500 in contributions, with $70,000 of that coming from the House Republican Organizational Committee.

Dimas, a marketing specialist with a Seattle nonprofit, has raised more than $26,000. And Kallinen, a parks ranger in Klickitat County, has raised about $2,200.

Finally, the candidates running for the State Representative Pos. 2 include Democrat Ana Ruiz Kennedy , independent Eddie Perez and Republican Deb Manjarrez.

Manjarrez, former chair of the Yakima County Republican Party, leads with nearly $75,000 in contributions. Similar to Mendoza, Manjarrez also received a lump sum donation from the House Republican Organizational Committee, but hers was $50,000.

Ruiz Kennedy, a business liaison from Pasco, has raised more than $43,000 so far, mostly from labor unions and individual donations.

Perez, an auto service general manager, hasn’t reported any campaign finance data to the PDC.

Affordability, public safety, and fentanyl

The issues of affordability, public safety, quality jobs and the rising fentanyl crisis are top of mind for Central Washington voters and their candidates.

“The (Yakima) Valley part of the district is rural, and they’re seeing the affects of the fentanyl crisis,” Ruiz Kennedy said. “They’re worried — for their family members, for people in their communities and for not having the facilities to help these people.”

Ruiz Kennedy says many voters she’s met with are also unaware of the issues happening in Olympia, and many can’t even name their own representatives. Many don’t know that they have a voice in these issues, she says.

“Their current legislators for decades have not delivered. This district is 70 years behind. There is a lot of work we need to do and we are working really hard to talk to voters, to engage them,” she said.

King argues the state, and by extension the district, has seen a “phenomenal” growth in crime.

“We have one of the highest rates of car thefts in the country, and it all has to do with us not letting police pursue a fleeing vehicle,” King says, referring to the 2021 police pursuit laws that increased the allowable standard, which have since been changed.

King is campaigning on increased public safety, government accountability and K-12 education transparency. He currently serves as ranking member in both the Senate Labor and Commerce and Senate Transportation committees.