u 2012 Washington Primary

About the results: Primary elections in the state of Washington utilize a “Top 2” election system. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the Primary advance to the General Election, regardless of their party preference. Both “winning” candidates (and uncontested candidates) for a given race are denoted with in the Spokesman-Review Election Center results. (Judicial races are an exception to this rule; see below.)

Supreme Court races: As per Washington election law, a judicial candidate who receives more than half of the votes in a primary election wins the seat and does not have to run in the November general election. A judicial race between only two candidates will therefore decide that race. If a candidate in a race of three or more people wins with over 50% of the vote, they will win the seat; otherwise, the top two candidates will advance to the November general election.