Parker Harris
Parker Harris was a 2017 Independent special election candidate for District 45 of the Washington State Senate.
Biography
Harris' professional experience includes working as a teacher and energy efficiency engineer. He graduated in 2009 from Union College.[1]
Campaign themes
2017
Harris' campaign website highlighted the following campaign themes:[2]
| “ | Education
Taxes
Healthcare
Money in Politics
Environment
|
” |
Elections
2017
Partisan control of the Washington State Senate was at stake in the November 7 special election. Democrats held a numerical majority in the Senate prior to the special elections. However, because Senator Tim Sheldon (D) caucused with the GOP, Republicans maintained effective control of the chamber. Senate District 45, which had the greatest likelihood of being a closely contested race, afforded Democrats the opportunity to gain control of the chamber. Single-party control of the state Senate, state House, as governorship allows for the controlling party to more easily pursue their legislative agenda. The Seattle Times reported climate change, gun regulations, a more progressive tax structure, and new state revenue for schools and other programs as key issues for the Washington Democrats.[4] For Republicans, controlling the Senate meant a check on the agenda of House Democrats and Governor Jay Inslee. Republicans campaigned against a state income tax, pointing to a recent measure approved by the Seattle City Council that would implement a 2.25 percent tax on income above $250,000.[5]
Majority control of the state House was not at stake in the 2017 special elections. Democrats held a 50-48 majority in the House heading into the special elections. Republicans were defending their seats in two of the three state House elections, and no Republican candidates filed for the third election, which was in House District 48.
Political context of the Senate District 45 special election
The special general election for District 45 was held on November 7, 2017, with Manka Dhingra (D) defeating Jinyoung Lee Englund (R).[6] Dhingra and Englund defeated Parker Harris (I) in the top-two primary. Dhingra won 51.5 percent of the vote in the primary compared to 41.5 percent earned by Englund.[7] A survey released by Myers Research & Strategic Services in late-September showed similar results as the primary election, with Dhingra at a 51-41 lead over Englund.[8] The seat was left vacant after Andy Hill (R) passed away due to lung cancer. Dino Rossi (R) was appointed to fill the vacancy until the November election.
| Washington State Senate, District 45, Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Manka Dhingra |
55.4% | 27,755 | |
| Republican | Jinyoung Lee Englund | 44.6% | 22,361 | |
| Total Votes | 50,116 | |||
Senate District 45 held highly competitive elections in 2014 and 2010. Senator Andy Hill (R) won those elections with 52.7 percent and 51.0 percent of the vote, respectively. Democrats last held Senate District 45 after the 2006 elections. Eric Oemig (D) won the 2006 election with 52.9 percent of the vote, but lost his re-election bid to Hill in 2010.
In the 2016 elections, Hillary Clinton (D) carried 64.8 percent of the vote in Washington State Senate District 45. Donald Trump (R) earned 28.0 percent of the vote in the district.[9] Both state House seats in District 45 are held by Democrats.
Senate District 45 includes Duvall, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, and Woodinville. The district is located in King County and is northeast of Seattle. There are 141,000 residents in the district, and 105,000 of those residents are of voting age. White residents make up 76.5 percent of the population followed by Asian residents at 13.4 percent.[10]
| District 45 Elections: 1998 - 2016 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election Year: | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | ||||||||||
| Winning Party: | R | R | D | R | R | ||||||||||
| Margin of victory: | R+17.8 | R+100 | D+5.9 | R+1.8 | R+5.4 | ||||||||||
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | |||||||||||||||
Campaign finance
As of October 31, 2017, Dhingra had raised $1,454,000 in campaign contributions, while Englund had raised $1,528,000. At that same time, Dhingra had spent $1,382,000 while Englund had spent $1,467,000. In 2014, incumbent Andy Hill (R) raised $1,042,000 while his Democratic challenger raised $508,000. In 2010, Hill raised $420,000 while his Democratic challenger raised $290,000. Hill won those elections with 52.7 percent and 51.0 percent of the vote respectively.[11]
Independent expenditures amounted to $772,000 in favor of Dhingra and $2,279,000 in opposition to the Democratic candidate. Independent expenditures towards Englund amounted to $684,000 in support and $1,678,000 in opposition.[11] Independent expenditures are political communications that expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a specific candidate. These expenditures are made by individuals, political committees, Super PACs, qualified nonprofit corporations, corporations, and labor unions that are unable to coordinate with candidate campaigns involved in the election.
The following table details campaign finance dollar amounts as of October 31, 2017.[11]
| Washington Senate District 45 Campaign Finance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Total Raised | Total Spent | IE Supporting | IE Opposing |
| Manka Dhingra | $1,454,074.53 | $1,382,547.02 | $772,568.02 | $2,279,117.47 |
| Jinyoung Lee Englund | $1,528,549.90 | $1,467,622.48 | $684,207.30 | $1,678,350.09 |
| Parker Harris | $3,282 | $2,467.36 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $2,985,906.43 | $2,852,636.86 | $1,456,775.32 | $3,957,467.56 |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Parker Harris Washington Senate. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Washington State Senate
- Washington State Senate District 45
- Washington state legislative special elections, 2017
- Washington State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ parkerforsenate.org, "Meet Parker," accessed May 23, 2017
- ↑ parkerforsenate.org, "Issues," accessed May 23, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Trump effect? Control of Washington state Legislature hinges on this critical Eastside race," May 14, 2017
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Seattle City Council approves income tax on the rich, but quick legal challenge likely," July 10, 2017
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "November 7, 2017 General Election Results," accessed November 28, 2017
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "August 1, 2017 Primary Results," accessed August 28, 2017
- ↑ Seattle pi, "Connelly: Poll has Democrat leading in battle to control the Legislature," September 21, 2017
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
- ↑ Statistical Atlas, "Overview of State Senate District 45, Washington," accessed July 6, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Legislative Candidates," accessed October 31, 2017
