Schrier leads 8th District primary; race for second separated by seven votes
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier held a commanding lead Tuesday night after the first statewide ballot count in Washington's 8th Congressional District primary, while Republicans Spencer Meline and Trinh Ha were separated by just seven votes in the race for the second spot on the November ballot.
With the first round of results reported from counties across the district, Schrier received 54.00% of the vote, or 59,340 votes.
Meline narrowly held second place with 14.75%, or 16,206 votes, just ahead of Ha, who received 14.74%, or 16,199 votes. Republican Bob Hagglund received 11.76% with 12,923 votes. Republican Andres Valleza received 2.40% with 2,635 votes, while Democrat Keith Arnold received 2.20% with 2,417 votes.
Under Washington's top-two primary system, the two candidates receiving the most votes advance to the Nov. 3 general election regardless of party affiliation.
With only seven votes separating Meline and Ha, the race for second remained too close to call Tuesday night. Addit…