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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

State Senator

Election Results

Candidate Votes Pct
Dave Schmidt (R) 11,119 36.30%
Steve Hobbs (D) 10,972 35.82%
Lillian Kaufer (D) 4,430 14.46%
Ryan Ferrie (R) 4,110 13.42%

* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.

Featured Candidates

Dave Schmidt

Party:
Republican

Steve Hobbs

Party:
Democrat
Age:
54
City:
Lake Stevens, Washington

Education: Graduated from Lake Stevens High School in 1988. Received a master's of public administration and a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington.

Work experience: Has served in the U.S. Army and the National Guard for 30 years.

Political experience: Appointed secretary of state in November 2021 by Gov. Jay Inslee. Elected to the office in a special election in November 2022. Served in the state Senate from 2007 to 2021.

Family: Married to Pam Hobbs. Has three children.

Campaign finance: Has raised more than $169,000 as of Oct. 1, 2024, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Notable contributors include: Boeing Co., The Tulalip Tribes of Washington, Premera Blue Cross, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302, T-Mobile USA Inc., Washington Education Association and Microsoft.