'A lot of votes left to count,' Washington state Jewish caucus co-chair says

Jesse Salomon, co-chair of Washington's legislative Jewish caucus, said Wednesday that "there are a lot of votes left to count and enough to say we're not really sure what the final will be."

The Democratic Jewish state senator trailed progressive challenger Cindy Ryu, also a Democrat who left her state House seat to run against him, by 513 votes after the first round of ballots was counted in Tuesday's primary.

Salomon noted that primary results do not necessarily predict general election outcomes. In 2018, he unseated incumbent Democrat Maralyn Chase despite receiving 38% to his opponent's 37% in the primary, then won 69% in the general election. "I don't know if this will happen this time around, but I wouldn't draw too much from this primary result," He said.

The state senator, who grew up in the Seattle area and attended Jewish day school, visited Israel after Oct. 7. He is endorsed by Washingtonians for a Brighter Future and the Kids Table, both pro-Jewish political action committees.

State Representative Roger Goodman, a Jewish Democrat who co-chairs the legislative Jewish caucus alongside Salomon, endorsed Ryu instead. The two co-chairs disagree on public safety policy, according to Salomon. "I'm more moderate than he is," He told JNS.

Ryu's endorsers include the American Muslim Advancement Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, though Ryu does not list the CAIR endorsement on her website. Shortly after Oct. 7, CAIR blamed Israel for being attacked, and the Biden administration removed the group from an advisory role in its national strategy to fight Jew-hatred.

Washington uses a top-two primary system in which the two candidates receiving the most votes advance to the November general election regardless of party affiliation. Republican Ira McBee placed third after the first ballot drop on Tuesday night.