Commissioner of Public Lands
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) | 419,297 | 22.05% |
| Dave Upthegrove (D) | 396,300 | 20.84% |
| Sue Kuehl Pederson (R) | 396,249 | 20.84% |
| Patrick DePoe (D) | 267,924 | 14.09% |
| Allen Lebovitz (D) | 194,114 | 10.21% |
| Kevin Van De Wege (D) | 143,170 | 7.53% |
| Jeralee Anderson (D) | 84,351 | 4.44% |
* 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
Jaime Herrera Beutler
- Party:
- Republican
- City:
- Battle Ground, Washington
Education: Graduated from Prairie (Washington) High School in 1996. Holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Washington.
Work experience: Self-employed consultant at Columbia Strategic Consulting, LLC.
Political experience: Served as the U.S. representative for Washington’s 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2023. Served in the Washington House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.
Family: Married to Daniel Beutler. They have three children.
Campaign finance: Raised more than $561,000 as of Oct. 2, 2024, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Notable donors include Western Forest Products, the American Forest Resource Council, the campaign fund of U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Beverage Association Political Action Committee and Sierra Pacific.
Dave Upthegrove
- Party:
- Democratic
- Age:
- 53
- City:
- Seattle, Washington
Education: Graduated from Lakeside School in Seattle in 1989. Holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in environmental conservation and a graduate certificate from the University of Idaho in energy policy.
Work experience: Previously worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a recreational planner and a state legislative staffer. Has worked off-and-on as a basketball referee for youth and adult leagues.
Political experience: Member and the chair of the King County Council, representing the 5th district since 2014. He served in the Washington House of Representatives, representing the 33rd district, from 2002 to 2013.
Family: Married to Chad Harper. No children.
Campaign finance: Has raised more than $1 million as of Oct. 2, 2024, including more than $7,000 in loans, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Notable donors include the Washington Conservation Action, the The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the Washington Council of Firefighters and the Washington Education Association Political Action Committee.
Sue Kuehl Pederson
- Party:
- Republican
- Age:
- 71
- City:
- Lakewood, Washington
Education: Graduated from Stevenson High School in 1971. Has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Western Washington University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington in 2005.
Work experience: Retired. Former senior environmental analyst at Seattle City Light, former power manager at Grays Harbor Public Utility District.
Political experience: Previously ran for lands commissioner in 2020. Ran for the state Senate in Washington's 19th Legislative District in 2016. Elected as the chair of the Grays Harbor County Republican Party in 2016.
Family: Widowed with two children.
Complete Coverage
Wildfires, timber industry sit front-and-center in the race or Washington lands commissioner
Democrat Dave Upthegrove and Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler clash over the future of logging state-owned forests.
Time is tight for GOP lawsuit in lands commissioner race
With only six weeks before voting begins in Washington’s November election, state Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh acknowledged that time is tight for his party’s legal challenge against recount results in the state lands commissioner primary.
Democrat barely advances in Washington lands commissioner election as recount finished
In Washington’s first statewide ballot recount in a primary election since 1960, Democrat Dave Upthegrove just barely edged out Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson to secure a spot on the November ballot in the race for the state office that oversees millions of acres of public lands.King County Councilmember Upthegrove will join Republican and former U.S. Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler on the general election ballot this fall.
Spin control: Close primary contests partly decided by voters who opted to skip races
With the state headed for a hand recount of the lands commissioner race, it seems time to look at one of the biggest failures that candidates and their campaigns make.
Razor-thin race for Washington lands commissioner spurs first statewide ballot recount in decades
As of Tuesday evening, a margin of 51 votes separated two of the leading candidates in the closest primary race Washington state has seen in decades.Three candidates for state lands commissioner are fighting neck and neck for two spots on the November general election ballot. Two weeks after the Aug. 6 primary, the close results have triggered an automatic statewide hand recount.
Natasha Hill takes lead over Ben Stuckart in race for Spokane House seat – and other updates in uncalled races
Crowded fields or not, Spokane and Spokane Valley voters turned their state Legislature races into three-person heats with only two spots to secure in November’s general election.
Race to lead Washington’s Department of Natural Resources still too close to call with two Republicans in lead
Two Republicans and one Democrat are all vying to make the cut and secure two spots on November’s general election ballot. But the more than 500,000 ballots left to count across Washington means the primary race is too close to call, nearly 24 hours after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Washington state will soon elect a new lands commissioner in the midst of a climate crisis. Here’s who’s running for office.
As longer, hotter summers continue to light the state’s forests on fire and climate change sparks debates over how best to power the state, Washington state’s next Commissioner of Public Lands will have a lot on their plate.
Washington state Republican Party endorses 6 candidates as races for statewide offices heat up
The candidates who managed to clinch a party endorsement are not guaranteed a spot on the general election ballot come November. However, an endorsement earns them free publicity and fundraising help from the party in the coming months.