4th Congressional District has long ballot
An even dozen candidates are running for an open seat in Central Washington’s 4th Congressional District, making it the most crowded race in the state’s Aug. 5 primary.
The district trends heavily Republican, and so did the candidate filings. Eight are Republicans, with two Democrats and two independents. Under the state’s primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Go inside the blog to see the order they’ll appear on the ballot after a drawing by the secretary of state’s office:
Republican Gavin Seim, a videographer from Ephrata
Democrat Estakio Beltran, a former congressional aide from Richland
Republican Dan Newhouse, former legislator and state agriculture director from Yakima
Republican Clint Didier of Eltopia, a former NFL player who has run for U.S. Senate and state lands commissioner
Independent Josh Ramirez of Pasco, who works for Washington River Protection Solutions
Republican Gordon Allen Pross, a perennial candidate from Ellensburg
Democrat Tony Sandoval, a Yakima businessman
Republican Kevin Midbust, a Rite Aid supervisor from Richland
Republican Glen Stockwell, an advocate for Columbia Basin development and perennial candidate from Ritzville;
Republican George Cicotte, a Kennewick attorney
Republican Janea Holmquist, a sitting state senator from Moses Lake
Independent Richard Wright of Kennewick, who ran for the seat as a Democrat in 2006.
Clearly Seim got the best of the draw, because being at the top is usually good for a few extra votes and Beltran has a good spot as the first Democrat on top of a pile of Republicans. Arguably Holmquist got the worst draw with the penultimate spot because last can be more noticeable than next-to-last.