Primary election: Emily Randall tops Jesse Young in 26th District race for Washington Senate

Preliminary results released by the Washington Secretary of State Tuesday night show that incumbent Democrat Sen. Emily Randall leads the race for the 26th District Senate seat, with 53.32% of the votes to Republican Rep. Jesse Young's 42.6% in the primary.

A third candidate, Republican David Crissman, got 4.02% of the votes, meaning he is out for the general midterm election on Nov. 8.

The total number of votes cast for the race reached over 31,000 ballots as of Tuesday night.

Randall said the primary results prove that her team's efforts to knock on 13,000 doors and make 3,000 phone calls paid off. 

"It also tells me that our neighbors want reasonable and effective leadership in the Senate and we want a leader who will stand up for reproductive rights," Randall told the Kitsap Sun on Tuesday night.

A spokesman for Young told the Kitsap Sun he would not release a statement about Tuesday's primary outcome until the general election.

As of Tuesday night, Randall has collected in $433,000 contributions while Young has collected $418,000, according to the state's Public Disclosure Commission. 

Randall is attempting to win a second term in the state Senate, after she prevailed in 2018 against Republican Marty McClendon of Gig Harbor by 102 votes, or 0.14%. The race required a manual recount.

Prior to holding elected office, Randall formerly worked as a nonprofit fundraiser and healthcare and education advocate. 

Young has held his seat in the House since he was appointed to the 26th District House Seat in 2014. He's been reelected four times. He maintains a software engineering company providing technology consulting services in the areas of healthcare and finance.

The 26th District includes Port Orchard and a portion of Bremerton as well as Gig Harbor and northern Pierce County.