Jesse Salomon, co-chair of Washington’s legislative Jewish caucus, told JNS on Wednesday that “there are a lot of votes left to count and enough to say we’re not really sure what the final will be.”
After the first round of ballots was counted in Tuesday’s primary, the Democratic Jewish state senator trailed 513 votes behind progressive challenger Cindy Ryu, a fellow Democrat, who left her state House seat to run against him.
Salomon told JNS that the primary results don’t necessarily predict the general election outcome. In the 2018 primary, he unseated Maralyn Chase, an incumbent Democrat.
“I had 38% and the other Democrat had 37%, and then I got 69% in the general,” he said. “I don’t know if this will happen this time around, but I wouldn’t draw too much from this primary result.”
The Jewish state senator, who grew up in the Seattle area and attended Jewish day school, visited Israel after Oct. 7. He is endorsed by Washingtonians for a Brighter Future and the Kids Table, both pro-Jewish political action committees.
Notably, state representative Roger Goodman, a Jewish Democrat who co-chairs the state’s legislative Jewish caucus, endorsed Ryu over Salomon, according to her campaign site.
The two co-chair the caucus but disagree on public safety policy, according to Salomon.
“I’m more moderate than he is,” he told JNS.
Ryu’s endorsers include the American Muslim Advancement Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, though Ryu does not list the CAIR endorsement on her website.
Shortly after Oct. 7, CAIR blamed Israel for being attacked, and the Biden administration removed the group from an advisory role in its national strategy to fight Jew-hatred, after initially listing CAIR.
Washington state uses a top-two primary system, in which the two candidates who get the most votes advance to the November general election regardless of party affiliation. A third candidate, Ira McBee, a Republican, placed third after the first ballot drop on Tuesday night.
