Washington State Senator Pramila Jayapal wins Congressional Primary

SEATTLE, WA –Senator Pramila Jayapal took a commanding lead in Tuesday’s vote count in the race to replace retiring Rep. Jim McDermott in Washington’s 7th Congressional District seat, Seattle Times reported.

Jayapal had 38 percent of the vote and will advance to the November general election Joe McDermott and Brady Walkinshaw were neck and neck behind Jayapal, McDermott with 21.5 percent and Walkinshaw with 20.9 percent.

The top two vote-getters will move on to the fall election after all of the votes are counted and final results are certified in about two weeks.

Senator Jayapal issued the following statement following tonight’s election results: 

Because of the ownership and engagement of the supporters of our movement, this campaign went from being a 25-point underdog a few short months ago to decisively winning the primary election. 

Our movement is build on the collective values that we share as progressives. We’re building a movement that can and will reshape our government into one that lifts all of us up without tearing any one of us down, a movement that revolutionizes how campaigns are funded, with grassroots support and without corporate PAC money. We’re building a movement that can clearly stake out a positive vision for the future of America at a time when too many people feel cynical about change, and when too many people are struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table. We want to build a movement that provides quality education opportunities for students, regardless of income level, and a movement that stands up for immigrant, worker, and women’s rights. 

Our movement is a place that welcomes all, whether you’re black, brown or white; gay, straight, trans or gender queer; rich or poor, young or old - and we must do everything to keep it that way. I want to help lead the important conversations that define who we are as a country--made stronger by our diversity. Together, we can and will tackle two of the most pressing issues of our times, climate change and income inequality. These are just some of the many issues that are important not only to me, but to the people of this movement, and when we stand together, there’s nothing that we can’t do. 

WA7: The Story of the Race

SUMMARY

Tonight, Pramila Jayapal surged into the general election run-off after overcoming Joe McDermott’s initial 25-point lead, gaining 25 points in just three months. Pramila’s victory was the result of months of carefully planned strategy executed by a volunteer-powered movement with remarkable energy and momentum.

Based on decades of her own organizing experience, Pramila built her campaign on a field organizing strategy that drove and complemented all other tactics of the campaign. Tonight’s results are thanks to the combined efforts of 1,000 active volunteers, 40,000 donors, 35 labor unions, every major women’s organization, and the three largest progressive advocacy organizations in the country.  

Named as “one of the next three Elizabeth Warrens,” by The Nation, Pramila’s track record of successfully standing up for core progressive values resonated with these organizations and with voters advocating a vision for our country where everyone is welcome and can pursue the American Dream, and launched her into the general election. 

THE NUMBERS

According to internal campaign polling, Joe McDermott began the race with a 25-point lead over Pramila, but actually lost nearly 17 points over the course of the campaign while Pramila’s support improved as voters got to know her and her track record.

GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING

Pramila officially kicked off her field campaign on April 3, and since then she has run an aggressive people-powered ground game unmatched in this race. Powered by a team of six field organizers, Pramila has received help and support from over 1,000 volunteers across the 7th CD. Working from three field offices across the district, our volunteer army knocked on 71,645 doors and initiated over 210,000 conversations with voters to achieve our impressive 38% finish tonight. 

POLITICAL SUPPORT

In addition to a strong voter contact program, Pramila’s success in the primary election is due to the many political partners who helped make tonight’s results possible. Our campaign received the support and endorsement from: 35 labor unions, including the Washington State Labor Council, United Food and Commercial Workers Union and SEIU Washington State Council; every major women’s organizations, the three largest progressive organizations in the nation; 12 current members of Congress; and 35 current and past local elected officials and leaders. These organizations, endorsers and labor unions helped the campaign conduct eight press conferences, over 35 neighborhood gatherings, and a volunteer training summit. 

FUNDRAISING

Pramila built a fundraising base that brought in a total of $1,527,956 to date from over 40,000 contributors with an average contribution of just $25. The campaign was thrilled to receive a critical endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders in April. Before the endorsement, the campaign had already raised $440,000 in just 10 weeks, and secured major endorsements from Democracy for America, PCCC, MoveOn, and 35 labor unions.  Throughout our campaign, we have focused on building a strong base of grassroots donors, which not only helped make tonight’s results a reality, but also built a powerful foundation for the general election.

DIGITAL OUTREACH

Our ground game has been complemented by an aggressive digital organizing program that helped supporters share Pramila’s message with their family and friends on social media. Over the course of the campaign, Pramila has built the strongest online following of any candidate and – most importantly – has translated that support into offline action in the form of volunteering and fundraising. Since the campaign began tracking social media on April 10th, the campaign’s two main platforms, Twitter and Facebook, have added a combined 10,292 new followers. In that same time period, the campaign pages of both Joe McDermott and Brady Walkinshaw added a total of 1,319 combined new followers. @PramilaJayapal was recently named the “most influential twitter account in the state” by Whipboard publication. This aggressive online organizing recruited 524 new volunteer sign-ups and a served as a message platform to increase name recognition.   

LOOKING AHEAD: THE GENERAL ELECTION

Looking ahead to the general election, Pramila Jayapal clearly has momentum coming out of the primary and room for growth to consolidate remaining undecided voters and win in November. Dedicating a large portion of our campaign resources to our ground game through our field program, political partnerships, and digital strategy was a significant factor in our results tonight. In the general election, we expect to accelerate outreach efforts to voters across the 7th CD and consolidate Pramila’s support. Our campaign will continue to be successful because of the support of everyday Washingtonians who recognize Pramila as an agent of change who fights for them and who are energized and inspired to take action and join our movement. 

*The election night results are as of August 2nd. As ballots are counted over the coming days, these numbers may change. The GBA Strategies polls were conducted on behalf of Pramila Jayapal’s campaign by live interviewers among 500 voters each, reaching voters on landline and cell phones. Each poll carried a 4.4 percentage point margin of error at the 95% confidence level.