Republican candidate announces for key state Senate race

OLYMPIA – Another candidate has jumped in the race for a Senate seat that will determine which party controls the chamber this year.

Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund of Woodinville on Tuesday announced her candidacy for the November special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Republican Sen. Andy Hill, the Seattle Times reported.

Republicans, with the help of a Democrat who caucuses with them, currently control the Senate by a single seat. Democratic candidate Manka Dhingra, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney with the King County Prosecutor’s Office has been endorsed by key Democrats, including Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

Three other candidates have filed to run for the seat: Robert Harris as nonpartisan, Ian Stratton as a Democrat and Kenneth Smith as a Republican.