Longtime legislative incumbent Rep. Brian Blake (D-Aberdeen) is well ahead of his two Republican challengers in early returns from the Aug. 7 primary election in the race for Dist. 19 Position 2.

District-wide Blake had just over 60 percent of the 23,629 ballots counted (14,181), McEntire 21.38 percent (5,051) and Parsons 18.61 percent (4,397). Along with the southern portion of Grays Harbor County, the 19th District also includes Pacific and Wahkiakum counties and portions of Lewis and Cowlitz counties.

Blake had 3,543 (62.49 percent) of the 5,670 ballots cast in Grays Harbor County. McEntire was in second place with 1,239, David Parsons had 888. In Pacific County, Blake had 63.46 percent, McEntire with 20.1 percent and Parsons with 16.44 percent, totals of 3,277, 1,038 and 849 respectively.

The top two vote getters advance. The results are preliminary, pending ballots that are still arriving in the mail.

In the two-person race for the Dist. 19 Position 1 seat, Democrat Erin Frasier of Pe Ell leads the incumbent, Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen). The district-wide totals on primary night gave Frasier 51.57 percent of the 23,963 votes cast. Both advance.

In Grays Harbor County, Frasier led 2,934 votes to 2,807 with 51.11 percent. Her advantage was greater in Pacific County, with 53.71 percent of the 5,256 votes counted to 46.29 percent for Walsh.

In the 24th District State Representative Position 1 race, Democrat Mike Chapman (D-Port Angeles) leads Republican Jodi Wilke with 61.48 percent of the 36,735 votes cast within the district. In Grays Harbor County, Chapman leads Wilke with 53.2 percent of the 6,619 votes cast.

The 24th District Position 2 race has incumbent Steve Tharinger (D-Sequim) leading Republican challenger Jim McEntire with nearly 60 percent of the district-wide vote. In Grays Harbor County, Tharinger had 53.27 percent (3,528 votes) to McEntire’s 46.73 percent (3,086 votes).

Candidates for the other Washington, meaning Congress, included incumbent Democrat Derek Kilmer (R-Gig Harbor) against Republican Douglas Dightman and progressive candidate Tyler Myles Vega for the District 6 U.S. Representative seat. Of 12,165 votes cast in Grays Harbor County, Kilmer had 7,007, Dightman 4,728 and Vega 430. District-wide, Kilmer took more than 64 percent of the 114,677 ballots counted so far; Dightman was second with 32.4 percent.

In the very crowded U.S. Senator race for the seat held by longtime incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell had her collecting nearly 50 percent of the 12,313 votes counted Tuesday in Grays Harbor County. Her closest competitor was Republican Susan Hutchison with 28.6 percent. Statewide Cantwell held a 572,817 to 246,089 advantage over Hutchison, with none of the other 27 candidates with more than 3 percent of the vote out of more than a million counted.

After Tuesday’s count, voter turnout in Grays Harbor County stood at 30.09 percent, with 12,734 ballots counted out of 42,317 registered voters.