The number of write-in votes that former Washington 8th district legislator and unsuccessful candidate for congress, Republican Brad Klippert received for Washington secretary of state could have tipped the race to Democrat Steve Hobbs the first Democrat elected to that post since the 1960s. Klippert was endorsed by the Washington Republican Party as well as the Republican committees in Benton and Franklin counties.
With 2,210,903 votes counted, Washington secretary of state candidate Julie Anderson, an independent candidate, conceded last night to Democrat Steve Hobbs who currently leads by 51,258 votes. It is likely that Brad Klippert received a significant portion of 85,278 write-in votes.
As of Thursday night, Hobbs had 1,088,442 votes, 49.25 percent; while Anderson had 1,037,183 votes, 46.9%; and the 85,278, write-in votes accounted for 3.86 percent of the total.
On November 4, Governor Jay Inslee and State Democratic Chair Tina Podlodowski put out a joint statement urging voters not to write-in Klippert. That may have been the best publicity that Klippert received during his campaign. Since few Democrats would have written in the name of a known Trump-loving, election-denier, the motive for making the post and circulating it on Facebook is anybody’s guess.
Efforts to reach Klippert for comment were unsuccessful.
Klippert followed his ego and failed. But I’m sure he will be back and wear this loss as a badge of honor.
Hi Jon, I appreciate your comment. It appears that like his hero, Donald Trump, Klippert doesn’t want to fade away Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy