Nobles leads O’Ban in Lakewood-area Senate race. Could longtime GOP seat turn blue?
As of Wednesday, Democratic candidate T’wina Nobles held a slim lead over Republican incumbent Steve O’Ban in the race for state senator in the 28th Legislative District in Pierce County, a seat that’s been held by Republicans for years.
Primary election results released Wednesday showed Nobles had 13,386 votes (49.99 percent), while state Sen. Steve O’Ban had 13,363 (49.09 percent). They’re separated by 23 votes. Both will face off again in the general election in November.
“(Voters) are ready for a new type of Senator in the District and a new type of leadership to confront the challenges of these times. ... While there are many ballots left to be counted, we are confident that later returns will continue to trend in our favor,” T’wina Nobles said in a statement to The News Tribune on Wednesday.
O’Ban’s campaign also released a statement on the results:
“We look forward to the opportunity to show voters that Sen O’Ban has worked tirelessly to represent the people of the 28th Legislative District, including to establish two new mental health facilities, funding for the expansion of I-5 along the JBLM corridor, fighting for car tab tax relief that voters overwhelmingly approved, and getting the resources schools and educators need to provide effective and safe instruction for our kids.”
The 28th Legislative District, which represents Lakewood, University Place, DuPont and parts of Tacoma, had a 32.24 percent voter turnout as of Wednesday, but more ballots were expected to be counted. The district’s previous certified August primary turnouts was 36 percent in 2016 and 37 percent in 2018.
Voters in the district have historically elected Republicans for its Senate position, with the seats holding red even in the primaries.
What changed?
Nic Van Putten, political consultant with Progressive Strategies NW, said that nationally, urban/suburban areas similar to Lakewood have seen a shift.
“More urban districts are moving left, more rural districts are moving right,” he said. “Traditionally, swing areas that are more urban or suburban ... have moved very markedly to the left for Democrats.”
Republican political consultant Alex Hays said the race for Congressional District 10 brought out the Democratic vote.
“This is, I think, the big driver here — you have a massive campaign at the federal level and a ‘get-out-the-vote’ campaign,” he said.
Republican voters will likely show more turnout in November, Hays added, considering other measures and seats that will be up for grabs on the ballot.
O’Ban, who also works as senior counsel for behavioral health issues for Pierce County, raised $403,496 for his campaign, with Nobles close behind with $337,763.
If elected in November, Nobles, a University Place school board member, could become the only Black member of the state Senate and the first in a decade, Crosscut’s Melissa Santos reported.
Nobles also is president of the Tacoma Urban League, a social services organization that’s been a vocal advocate for Black residents in the Tacoma area at a time where protests in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) have been widespread across the country.
When asked if she thought the Black Lives Matter movement had an impact on the race, Nobles said: “While BLM contributed to the enthusiasm for my candidacy and helped amplify the race, if there hadn’t been an appetite for change in leadership in this district we wouldn’t have seen the results we saw last night.”
Because the Pierce County’s Auditor’s Office doesn’t track voters by race, there’s no data to show whether more people of color voted in the district this year.
“It’s hard to analyze the effects of Black Lives Matter on the campaign,” Hays said.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
