Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect new numbers tallied from the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office. Last updated 8/5/26 5:22 p.m. For more information on race results in Washington state, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

 

WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Preliminary results in the 2026 Primary election are making strong showing for conservatives, incumbents and independents as the ballot boxes close this Tuesday, Aug. 4.

The Whatcom County Auditor’s Office is reporting a 34% voter turnout for this year’s primary, though Auditor Stacy Henthorn told My Bellingham Now the office currently still have to tabulate 11,000 ballots and some more may still arrive in the mail. It is unclear if those ballots have been added to the total voter turnout of roughly 58,000 votes cast this primary.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen is currently maintaining his reelection campaign as preliminary results place him in first place for Tuesday’s primary with approaching 44% of the vote.

Republican challenger Edwin Feller is close behind at over 32.5% while progressive Democrats Tomas Scheel and Devin Hermanson trail with approximately 13% and 10.5% respectively.

42nd District sees a Republican lead as Dems battle for number two

The Republican in the race for state senate in District 42 is ahead.

Erika Creydt received exactly 44.5% of the vote.

Two Democrats in the race, Port of Bellingham Commissioner Michael Shepard and Planning Commission member Eamonn Collins, are neck and neck at 26.8% and 26.2% respectively. The gap narrowed since Tuesday’s initial tally, with Collins making up nearly three percentage points as roughly 11,000 votes were tabulated.

Ryan Bowman, who doesn’t declare a party preference, has nearly 2.5%.

This is an open seat following Senator Sharon Shewmake’s decision to not seek re-election.

Meanwhile, Democrats are ahead in the beauty contests for state house seats in the 42nd District.

Position 1 incumbent Democrat Alicia Rule is ahead of Republican challenger Misty Flowers over 56% to 43.5%.

For Position 2, incumbent Democrat Joe Timmons leads with 54% over Republican Justin Pike’s approaching 46%.

40th District results show incumbent security

Further south, the 40th district is looking like it may keep its current representation.

Representative Position 1 incumbent Democrat Debra Lekanoff enjoys a wide lead over her Republican challenger Cindy Carter.

Lekanoff is preferred by over 73% of voters versus almost 26.5% for Carter.

For Position 2, incumbent state Rep. Democrat Alex Ramel faced challenges from three candidates this primary, though he is currently blowing them out of the water with approximately 69% of the vote.

His closest challenger, Joseph Segault who has no party preference, captured approaching 13% of the vote in preliminary tally numbers.

Independent Salomon Rodrigue Mbouombouo received nearly 10% of the vote followed by fellow Independent Monte Jay Mahan at just over 8%.

The 40th District covers parts of Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties.

Whatcom County Prosecutor race implies change is in the air

The race for Whatcom County Prosecutor is still up to be decided, but Ryan Swinburnson, who has no party preference, is currently leading the race for the seat at just over 38% of the vote. Swinburnson does not currently work for the prosecutor’s office unlike his competitors.

Democrats Jesse Corkern, Dona Bracke and Erik Sigmar are neck and neck for preliminary second place, with nearly 22% for Corkern, approaching 20% for Bracke and roughly 19% for Sigmar.

New Port Commission seats

Seat 4 represents the north, inland region of Whatcom County, encompassing Lynden but stopping at where SR 9 intersects with E Badger Road. This race is currently led by Paul Burrill with just over 30% of the vote.

Tor Benson with 24% takes second place behind Burrill, followed by Samantha Cruz-Mendoza at roughly 19.5%.

Seat 5 for the newly-expanded port commission takes the east part of Whatcom County, including Lake Whatcom and the Chuckanuts in addition to Maple Falls and Deming.

Chris Elder captured nearly 41.5% of the vote for seat 5 on the commission following in poll results.

Shawn Ensley with approaching 21.5% of the vote has placed second in early results with Todd Lagestee at approaching 18% for third place.

Incumbent WA Supreme Court justices fend off opponents

Preliminary results are rolling in for roles on the state Supreme Court.

Four non-partisan positions on the state’s highest court were up for grabs in yesterday’s primary.

Debra L. Stephens and Colleen Melody are both well ahead of their respective challengers in positions 1 and 7.

David Stevens currently has a nearly 30,000 vote lead for position 3, while Theo Angelis sits about 28,000 votes ahead of his closest competitor for position 5.

Whatcom County voters made similar decisions, though a few more residents in our region chose Dave Larson over Theo Angelis.

Local fire levies are showing range of success, failure

It’s a mixed bag for fire district tax levies in Whatcom County.

Glacier Fire and Rescue’s measure is passing with almost 69% of the vote.

Fire District 21’s levy is slightly ahead at 52% approval while Fire District 1’s proposal is being rejected by just over 52% of the voters.

 

More results will be released as ballots are tallied. Next update from the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office is at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6.