Top 2 Primary creates some all-in-the-family races
Ten of Washington’s 123 legislative races pit finalists who prefer the same political party, 25 lawmakers will be elected without opposition at all, and most of the rest will be traditional smackdowns between candidates who prefer the two mainline political parties. Washington’s Top 2 Primary system, adopted as the “People’s Choice Initiative” in 2004 and later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, allows all voters to choose their favorite for each office, without regard to party preference. The two who…