Washington’s Election Filing Week Kicked Off

Posted by Joe Adamack on May 4, 2026

While candidates for a range of offices have already been reaching out to voters, raising money, and getting the word out for months, Monday at 8 a.m. marked the opening of filing week in Washington state where any candidates for office officially register with the Washington State Sec. of State or their local county elections office in order to appear on the ballot. Candidates have until Friday at 5 p.m. to submit their candidacy online or through the mail.

According to the state, there are more than 16,700 seats that Washingtonians can put their name forward across a number of state and local positions including anything from Congress to precinct committee officers and everything in between. We will be primarily focused on those filing for state legislative races with all 98 state House seats up for election and 24 positions in the state Senate. Additionally, one open seat for Congress with Rep. Dan Newhouse opting not to run for re-election will see multiple candidates step forward.

With a number of state legislators retiring or running for other offices already announced, we will see a number of open seats on the ballot. Additionally, filing week usually provides one or two late changes or surprises.

Washington is unique with a “top 2” primary that means the top two vote getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation and all voters can vote for any candidate in the primary. The state’s rather late primary is on August 4th ahead of the November 3rd general election.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, GoWest News, Washington Advocacy.