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

State Supreme Court Justice, position 6

Election Results

Candidate Votes Pct
Charles (Charlie) Wiggins 1,370,880 57.58%
David Larson (N) 1,009,927 42.42%

* 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.

About The Race

Charles Wiggins is finishing his first term on the court and faces a municipal court judge from Federal Way.

Wiggins has been extremely active on the court and authored more than 100 opinions in his first five years. He said those opinions “protect our constitutional liberties, impartially uphold and interpret the law, and justly resolve cases.”

But his opponent, Dave Larsen, argues that the court has “lost public trust.” He is calling for “judicial restraint.”

Larson said beyond deciding cases, the Supreme Court should take the lead on larger criminal justice issues such as the impacts of mental illness, addiction and homelessness, and he praises efforts to do so in Spokane County.

The Candidates

Charles (Charlie) Wiggins

Age:
76
City:
Bainbridge Island, WA
Occupation:
Supreme Court justice

Edcuation: Earned bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and law degree from Duke Law School.

Experience: Has served on state Supreme Court since 2010. Worked in private practice for more than 30 years. Served in U.S. Army.

Family: Married, two children

David Larson

Party:
No party
Age:
66
City:
Federal Way, Washington

Education: Graduated from Federal Way High School 1976. Earned bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Puget Sound in 1980. Earned law degree from Seattle University School of Law in 1984.

Work experience: Served as judge at Federal Way Municipal Court since 2008; presiding judge since 2009. Worked as a civil trial lawyer for 23 years before becoming a judge. Owned his own law firm between 1991 and 2001 and a mediation company with 22 contract mediators between 1998 and 2001.

Political experience: Elected to Federal Way Municipal Court in 2021, 2017, 2013 and 2009. Appointed to Federal Way School Board in 2007 and elected to the position in 2007. Resigned when elected as a judge in 2009. Ran unsuccessfully for Supreme Court in 2016 and 2020.

Family: Single, with two adult children and four grandchildren.

Campaign Finance: Has raised over $50,000 largely in individual donations from people in the Federal Way area.

Contact information: larsonforwa.org

Complete Coverage

Incumbents returned to Washington Supreme Court

Washington state won’t have new members on its Supreme Court as three incumbents successfully fended off challenges.

Big money fuels contentious Washington Supreme Court races

Controversial decisions, independent campaign money mean this year’s state Supreme Court races aren’t tame affairs.