By Aly McGee
One race for the Washington Supreme Court showed a likely winner in early returns on Tuesday night, while the remaining four races remained too close to call.
These numbers reflect the ballot count as of 9:55 p.m. on election night.
Pos. 1
Colleen Melody held a notable lead of 60%. Melody was appointed to the position in January by Gov. Bob Ferguson following Justice Mary Yu’s retirement.
Her challenger, Scott Edwards, a University of Washington School of Law professor for over 20 years and long-time tax and constitutional attorney, trailed with 40%.
Pos. 3
Jaime Hawk, current King County Superior Court judge, took the initial lead with 58% over opponent David Stevens. Hawk has a history of advocating on boards for immigrant children and women’s rights. Stevens had 42% of the votes.
Pos. 4
Ian Birk and Sean O’Donnell were locked in a tight race election night. O’Donnell had 51% and Birk held 49% of the votes. Birk serves currently as a judge on Division I of the Washington State Court of Appeals with two decades of private practice experience. O’Donnell is a current King County Superior Court judge, past prosecutor and trial judge.
Pos. 5
Incumbent Theo Angelis was locked in a tight race with Dave Larson. Angelis had 55% and Larson had 44% of the votes.
Angelis was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court by Gov. Bob Ferguson in April.
Larson has spent 18 years as a trial judge and 23 as a trial lawyer.
Pos. 7
Incumbent Debra L. Stephens looked to be the likely winner of the Pos. 7 race with 64% of the votes, while opponent Todd Bloom trailed with 36%. Stephens has been a judge on the Washington Supreme Court since 2008 and is currently chief justice.
Terms for Supreme Court justices are six years.
Election officials will continue to tally the remaining ballots, and updates to the tallies will be made in real time to results.votewa.gov.
