UPDATE | Tharinger on way to another term in state House of Representatives | General Election

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As the votes continue rolling in, State Rep. Steve Tharinger has increased his Election Night lead from less than 5 points to more than 14 in the race for the Legislative District 24, Position 2 seat to the Washington State House of Representatives.

The Democratic incumbent has gained more than 56 percent of the vote to beat his Republican rival Brian Pruiett.

“Those first numbers didn’t have Jefferson County, and obviously we do well in Jefferson County,” Tharinger said.

“There’s high voter turnout and that vote usually breaks for me or the Democrats,” he added.

While he is managing more than 56 percent of the vote on the district level, in Jefferson County, Tharinger holds a commanding lead of more than 71 percent.

Tharinger has a few theories as to why this county shows him so much love.

“Jefferson County has a high number of college graduates and post secondary graduates and those folks tend to vote a little bluer,” he said.

“Plus I think they have a sense of working together. Community is a strong motif within Jefferson County and the governments in Jefferson County and that’s certainly the message that I try to project,” he added. “It’s a positive message of trying to work together both at the local level, the state level, and the federal level. That’s how we get things done. I think Jefferson County has a history of doing that and then the voters responded positively to that.”

Overall, Tharinger has performed even better than in 2020 where his lead was half the size at it currently stands, with less than 54 percent of the vote.

For this election, Tharinger has 39,845 votes cast in his favor, or 56.6 percent of all ballots counted so far

Whereas Pruiett has received 30,513 votes, or 43.34 percent.

A total of 70,401 votes were counted in the tally as of 4 p.m. Nov. 14, according to the Washington State Secretary of State’s Election Division.

“Thanks everybody for their support and their votes. It’s an honor to be able to represent them in Olympia and keep working together,” Tharinger said.