WA House member unseats fellow Democrat to join Senate

While Washington’s state Senate Democrats didn’t lose any seats this year, one incumbent did fall to a member of his own party. 

State Rep. Cindy Ryu, D-Shoreline, defeated two-term Sen. Jesse Salomon, also a Democrat from Shoreline, in the 32nd Legislative District. Votes are still being tallied, but Ryu has a comfortable lead of more than 3 percentage points, or nearly 2,100 votes.

Ryu is considered more progressive than Salomon, though the incumbent often voted with his party on the most contentious policies, such as the income tax on high earners, limits on residential rent increases and unemployment benefits for striking workers. However, Ryu attacked Salomon for voting against a lower rent cap.

Ryu has said she supports lowering the million-dollar threshold for the income tax to $250,000, while Salomon argued the Legislature “blew a long-term opportunity” by not dedicating enough of the tax’s proceeds to tax relief.

The campaign was an expensive one, with Ryu raising $364,000 to Salomon’s $314,000. Salomon was also the benefactor of $395,000 in independent spending supporting his campaign, mostly from business-aligned groups. Over $49,000 was spent backing Ryu, most of it coming from the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

“I want to thank the voters for their support and for placing our communities’ needs at the core of this campaign, despite hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside spending. I am honored to serve as their next Senator,” Ryu said in a statement.

“The results so far in this race show that our elections cannot be bought and the voters of the 32nd Legislative District remain committed to progressive policies, including capping rent, helping small businesses and workers thrive, and ensuring our schools are fully funded.”

An endorsement from right-wing commentator Brandi Kruse backfired and hurt Salomon’s chances, said Sen. Manka Dhingra, who chairs the Washington Senate Democratic Campaign committee. 

“I think that probably played a big role,” Dhingra said. “When she ended up endorsing in that race, I remember thinking ‘Uh oh, that’s done now.’”

Salomon didn’t respond to requests for comment.

When Ryu announced her campaign last year, Senate Democratic leaders bristled. 

Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, of Seattle, was frustrated that Ryu was wasting resources that could be spent elsewhere by challenging a fellow Democrat. 

“My personal belief is that as the leader of the caucus, I am going to be loyal to and stand up for any member of my team,” Pedersen said this week. 

But Pedersen called Ryu a “valued colleague,” and that she’ll now get the same loyalty when she joins the caucus. 

“I met with her early on and told her if the voters of her district elected her that she would be our colleague and we’d be happy to work with her, as well,” he said.

The campaign committee doesn’t spend money protecting incumbents like Salomon in intra-party battles. Salomon also got into the Senate by defeating a Democratic incumbent, Maralyn Chase, in 2018.

Ryu has been in the state House for 15 years, and is the chair of the Technology, Economic Development, and Veterans Committee. Before that, she was the mayor of Shoreline.

Her bid to unseat Salomon meant her House seat was left open. Attorney Danica Noble defeated Shoreline City Councilmember Keith Scully in the Democrat-on-Democrat battle to replace Ryu.

The 32nd District is safe territory for Democrats, and includes northwest Seattle, Shoreline, Lynnwood, Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace.

While Democrats in the state House achieved a two-thirds supermajority in this election, the balance of power in the upper chamber will likely remain the same, with 30 Democrats and 19 Republicans. 

Carolina Mejia, a Democrat and Thurston County commissioner, appears to have fallen just short of unseating Republican Sen. Drew MacEwen in the 35th Legislative District.