Peter Abbarno smiles as he joins supporters in waving signs to vehicles along Harrison Avenue in Centralia two weeks ago.
Peter Abbarno, running as a Republican, is leading in the State Representative District 20 race for position 1 with 53 percent of the vote in Lewis County and 46 percent of the vote district-wide.
The seat is currently held by Richard DeBolt, who announced his retirement at the end of his current term.
The other candidates include Timothy Zahn, receiving 24 percent, Brian Lange with 20 percent Kurtis Engle with 3 percent of the votes in Lewis County. A total of 18,624 people voted.
The top two candidates will move to the general election.
Abbarno is currently serving as Mayor Pro-tem of Centralia and is a small business owner and attorney at Althauser Rayan Abbarno, LLP.
“I feel pretty good. I think it’s what we predicted in this unpredictable campaign cycle,” Abbarno said after the first-round election results were posted on the Lewis County Auditor’s Office website. “I feel confident. My campaign is going to continue to be focused on talking about solutions to problems that we are all going to be facing and we are going to be focusing on positives and I think that resonated with folks in the 20th District and I think it will continue.”
Abbarno said that a few of his top priorities for the coming years in the 20th district include economic recovery from the effects of COVID-19, combating poverty and homelessness and further investing in early education.
He said that his experience as a small business owner, attorney, and mayor pro-tem of Centralia, as well as the time he has spent volunteering for various causes and serving on various boards such as the Centralia College Foundation and Lewis Economic Development Council, has prepared him for the role as a state representative.
Zahn ran as a Democrat and lives in Toutle. He said his main priorities are identifying new sources of revenue in light of the COVID-19 pandemic one of which would be placing a wealth tax on people who have more than $100 million in assets.
Brian Lange, who lives in Morton, ran as a Republican and said his priorities for the 20th District include getting $30 car tabs, working to promote community-based agencies that help the homeless, especially for veterans and families, and reform on foster care programs.
“I’m trying to run this as strictly a grassroots campaign and I’ve been doing that throughout the years. I’ve actually been surprised by the support I’ve gotten all up and down the district,” Lange said in June.
Kurtis Engle has not specified a party affiliation and is living in Centralia. He also said that he is running in protest to Peter Abbarno and would be “shocked” if he won.
The primary election will be certified on Aug. 18.
