Democratic challenger Kevin Van De Wege of Sequim was holding almost a 10 percent lead over incumbent Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, in the race for the 24th District seat in the state House of Representatives.
The district-wide results from three counties showed Van De Wege with 19,726 votes, or 54.5 percent, to Buck’s 16,462 votes, or 45.5 percent.
The 24th District covers Jefferson and Clallam counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
In Clallam County, Buck was leading with 8,222 votes, or 52.4 percent, to Van De Wege’s 8,085 votes, or 49.6 percent.
But the slim margin wasn’t enough to overcome Van De Wege’s strong showing in the other two counties.
Jefferson results
In Jefferson County, Van De Wege received 8,066 votes, or 61.4 percent, versus Buck’s 5,050, or 38.5 percent.
In Grays Harbor County, Van De Wege received 3,575 votes, or 52.8 percent, versus Buck’s 3,190 votes, or 47.2 percent.
“I think it’s been looking good. This is the fruition of a long road and a lot of hard work,” Van De Wege said at a campaign gathering Tuesday night.
“I want to thank family for letting me do this.
“A lot of people put in a lot of long hours and did a lot of work. They organized grass-roots efforts, especially in Clallam County.
“Jefferson County also was tremendous in their ‘get out the vote’ effort,” he said.
Buck said Tuesday night that he wasn’t ready to call the race over yet.
“I need to see what’s in Grays Harbor and Jefferson County, and there’s still 9,000 votes out in Clallam so we’ll see. It’s about like it was last time,” Buck said.
