Trump foes lead in Washington state, as his win appears imminent

Republicans may feel like winners, with former President Donald Trump leading over Vice President Kamala Harris in electoral votes on Election Night. But here in Washington state, candidates who have gone toe-to-toe with Trump were winning or leading their races on Tuesday night.

RELATED: REAL-TIME RESULTS: Washington state, U.S. general elections

Trump on the ballot, oddly, is good news for Democrats in Washington state: If early leads hold in many races, Trump may have drawn out lefty voters. Plus, Democrats outraised and outspent Republicans in many of the major races, including governor.

Trump enemies on the ballot were winning or leading on Tuesday night.

Democrat Bob Ferguson, who sued Trump nearly 100 times as state attorney general, was ahead of Republican Dave Reichert in the governor’s race by 13 percentage points on Tuesday night. The Associated Press called the race for Ferguson shortly after polls closed.

“There is nobody running for statewide office this year anywhere in the United States who is more prepared to defend your freedoms against that administration than I am,” Ferguson told supporters on Tuesday night.

Trump’s MAGA candidates in congressional races also fell behind in early results.

RELATED: LIVE UPDATES: 2024 general election in Seattle, Washington state

In central Washington, Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse, who fell out of favor with Trump for voting to impeach him after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, leads Trump-endorsed Republican Jerrod Sessler by 2 percentage points in the 4th Congressional District race.

Trump’s man in Southwest Washington’s Congressional District 3 was also behind in early results.

Republican Joe Kent was behind Democratic incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez by about 4 percentage points on Tuesday. That’s a slim lead in an already tight race.

Meanwhile, three conservative initiatives appear headed for defeat.

One is a key legacy of current Gov. Jay Inslee – another Trump foe. His plan to reduce carbon emissions won’t be overturned. Initiative 2117, which would have banned the state's carbon credit auction program and effectively gutted the Climate Commitment Act, was behind after initial vote counting.

“The people of Washington have endorsed one of the nation’s most ambitious programs to fight climate change [the Climate Commitment Act] — and sent a strong message to other states that voters want policies that curb planet-heating pollution,” Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp said of the results on I-2117.

Brian Heywood, the primary funder behind several ballot measures this year, conceded that I-2117 and two others were likely headed for defeat. I-2109, which would have repealed the state’s capital gains tax, and I-2124, which would make optional a payroll tax for the state’s long-term care program, were also down after early ballot tallies.

RELATED: Democrat Bob Ferguson wins Washington state race for governor

Heywood blamed the failure of those three initiatives on the millions spent by the opposition. Heywood said the “No on I-2117" campaign had convinced voters “the sky is black and that little smokestacks are gonna pop up” if the carbon auction program were overturned.

Democrats, climate activists, and unions raised about $25 million collectively to defend the laws Heywood targeted. He spent nearly $6.5 million of his own money to gather signatures and get those measures on the ballot. But he appears to have been outgunned by others with deeper pockets – namely billionaires Bill Gates and Steve and Connie Ballmer – and the caregivers’ union, SEIU 775.

Progressives won at the city level.

Appointed incumbent Seattle City Councilmember Tanya Woo was losing to progressive challenger Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who had 57% of the early vote.

Councilmember Tammy Morales declared victory for Rinck on X at 8:16 p.m.: “Position 8 going back to a People's Champion, a renter, a transit rider, a queen Latina, and the youngest person ever to serve on Seattle City Council!”

This is significant for the City Council, which has become more centrist in recent years.

With the exception of Morales, the other councilmembers supported Woo’s election bid. She took a more moderate stance compared to Rinck on matters of public policy, especially public safety, and made Woo an easy ally for Council President Sara Nelson.

Meanwhile, up north, Everett was poised to raise the city’s minimum wage to $20.24 per hour, about $4 more than the state minimum wage. As of Tuesday night, Initiative 24-01 to raise the minimum wage was leading by nearly 16 points.

Proponents of the city initiative argued it would improve workers’ wages while closing loopholes for businesses, namely by excluding tips and other forms of compensation from counting to employees’ pay.

Even Clallam County, the trusty bellwether, veered left.

Washington’s Clallam County has chosen the same candidate as the electoral college in every presidential race since 1980 – but that streak appears to be at an end.

RELATED: This Washington county has predicted the president longer than anywhere

About 54% of Clallam voters went for Harris. As of Tuesday night, as Trump led nationally, he was trailing by about 10 points in that county.

The disparity attracted attention from Washington analysts, like veteran reporter Essex Porter: “Hope for Harris? She has big lead in national bellwether Clallam County,” he wrote on X.

While that may have been the case in years’ past, Harris’ path to victory – even with Clallam County and Washington state’s support – was extremely narrow. The New York Times put Trump’s chances of winning at more than 95% as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night.

KUOW's Catharine Smith and Scott Greenstone contributed to this report.