2022 WA Election Night Results: Patty Murray Leads Tiffany Smiley

SEATTLE — The November election is officially in the books, and Washingtonians are one step closer to knowing the outcomes of a few major races in play this year.

Seeking a sixth term in the Senate, longtime Democratic incumbent Patty Murray faced one of her strongest challenges to date in Republican Tiffany Smiley. Murray advanced out of the August primary with just over 52 percent of the vote against 17 opponents, and Smiley secured second place with 33.7 percent.

Polls leading up to Election Day showed Murray holding onto a narrowing lead in late October. As Crosscut reports, the candidates spent a combined $36 million on their campaigns, making for Washington's most expensive Senate race in more than four decades. On election night, Murray staked a comfortable 14-point lead over Smiley.

The Secretary of State's office estimated there were 634,848 ballots left to process across the state after election night.

Catch up on other races around Western Washington:

• WA Election Night Results 2022: Secretary Of State
• Seattle & King County Ballot Measures
• King County Prosecutor's Race: 2022 Election Night Results

Another closely-watched Congressional race is in Washington's 8th District, where Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier seeks a third term as Republican challenger Matt Larkin attempts to flip the seat back to red. On election night, Schrier was nearly six points ahead.

Here's how both races were shaping up on election night:

U.S. Senate

• Patty Murray (D): 56.92% (980,199 votes counted)
• Tiffany Smiley (R): 42.89% (738,618 votes counted)

U.S. House, WA 8th District

• Kim Schrier (D): 52.7% (102,017 votes counted)
• Matt Larkin (R): 46.99% (90,950 votes counted)

Tuesday's first returns do not reflect last-minute ballots, and the tallies will change daily as more votes are counted. In Washington, ballots returned in the last two days of the voting period can make up more than half of the total.

Readers can find the latest results for races across Washington on the Secretary of State's website.