Incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell and GOP-endorsed Raul Garcia lead in primary race for Senate seat

Incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell will face Republican Raul Garcia in the November election.

Cantwell easily won the most votes in the first count of votes, taking nearly 58%, followed by Garcia’s 21% across the state.

Cantwell has held the seat since 2000, when she defeated Republican incumbent Slade Gorton. Garcia, a physician from the Yakima area, previously ran for governor in 2020. Each is endorsed by their respective parties.

“I feel that I bring a new breath of fresh air,” Garcia said in a phone interview on election night. “I come from a service-oriented profession that I’ve done for 26 years … now it just changes venues; it’s not only for a person and a family, it’s for a state and a country.”

In the next 90 days of campaigning before the general election, Garcia intends to appeal to independent, moderate and conservative Democrat voters with more moderate policies than the incumbent, especially surrounding the fentanyl crisis, government spending and the economy.

“Our campaign has more of a moderate message than the senator does. I feel she has represented her own ideology the last six years.”

Cantwell thanked voters for their majority support in a statement election night.

“2024 is an important election year not just for our state but our country,” her statement read. “We need to continue lowering costs on housing, food and drugs. We need to continue our progress on bringing supply chains back to America and we need to protect women’s health care rights.”

Spokane County voters mirror statewide appetite,giving around 49% of received votes to Cantwell and 27% to Garcia. The next-highest vote-getter is Scott Nazarino, with 7% of Spokane County’s votes so far.