As Washington election officials continue to tally more votes from the August 7 primary for U.S. House, 2nd district, the identity of the second-place finisher has changed twice. Votes posted on Friday, August 10, now show the Libertarian Party candidate, Brian Luke, in second place. Whoever places second will appear on the November ballot under the top-two system.
Here are the results as of the end of the day, August 10. Luke has 11,738; independent Gary Franco has 11,664; a Democrat has 11,602; and the Republican, Mike the Mover, has 11,249.
If Luke does eventually take second, that will be the first time that any minor party candidate has ever placed first or second in a top-two election, when there was also a Republican and a Democrat in the same race. It will also be the first time that a minor party candidate for U.S. House has appeared on the November ballot in Washington, since the state started using top-two in 2008.
