State Rep. candidate in the 19th district, Jeff Wilson speaks at a Republican Forum in Lewis county in September.
Dean Takko
Republican challenger Jeff Wilson leads the way over longtime Democratic lawmaker and incumbent Dean Takko in the race for the 19th District’s state Senator.
As of Tuesday, Wilson had 53.4 percent of the vote in District 19 while Takko trailed with 46.5 percent.
Within Lewis County, which traditionally favors the Republican Party, Wilson received 72.3 percent of the vote while Takko had 27.3 percent.
The early election numbers indicate what many Democrats have feared: a swing to the right in the 19th District.
Results from the state Rep. seats in District 19 also indicated a Republican takeover with Jim Walsh and Joel McEntire, both Republicans, taking early leads in their respective races.
“These are very encouraging results and I look forward to seeing the final results,” Wilson said. “Thank you everybody, fingers crossed, but it is too early to call it.”
For Takko, who spent Election Day watching the early results from his house, said it was likely a combination of a number of things that is costing him, but ultimately he felt his support for the comprehensive sex education bill — which currently is being approved by almost 60 percent of Washington Voters — did him in.
“We ran a good campaign … I think the thing that probably made the difference is that (Republicans) hammered on the fact I support the sex education bill,” Takko said.
Takko did not buy into the notion that the 19th District is beginning to lean to the right, rather that it was due to “a number of issues” that have come up throughout this election cycle.
“I think people just — a number of issues have come up, I know a lot of people are upset about blocking things up with COVID and the way it was, a lot of jobs are gone. I think a lot of different things came together at the same time,” Takko said.
The 19th legislative district covers the Southwest corner of Lewis County, west of Interstate 5 in Cowlitz County, south of U.S. Highway 12 in Grays Harbor County and all of Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties.
Election results can be found at https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20201103/lewis/
The Race for State Senator, District 19
The race for the 19th District’s state Senator seat is a squareoff between Takko, who has been a state lawmaker in the 19th District since 2005, and Wilson, who became a Port of Longview commissioner in 2016.
In the Aug. 4 primary, Takko walked away reeling in about 44 percent of the votes in District 19 while Wilson captured about 37 percent and fellow Republican challenger Wes Cormier brought in about 19 percent.
In Lewis County, the margins of difference favored the Republican candidates more heavily, with Wilson receiving about 45 percent of the votes, Cormier with 29 percent and Takko with about 26 percent.
Despite Takko winning the primary, Republicans capturing 56 percent of the votes gave Democrats’ fears of a Republican takeover in the district a steady ground to stand on.
Wilson, who says he has lived in Longview for more than 50 years, is currently a commissioner for the Port of Longview where he won his first elected position in 2016.
Prior to that, Wilson was a business owner and founded several sanitation businesses local to Southwest Washington.
If elected, Wilson has said he wants to continue much of the work he did as a commissioner for the Port of Longview: lower taxes, eliminate fees and bring better paying jobs to the region, but at the state level.
One of his most ardent points he has made throughout his campaign is to see an end to “ghost bills,” or bills that enter the legislature with little information about the policy, only to be amended later and include the language of the actual bill.
Additionally, Wilson has preached that Olympia is in need of “fiscal responsibility,” something he feels like he can bring to the table through his experience with the Port of Longview and as a business owner.
Takko, a Longview resident, spent nearly 30 years working in assessor’s offices in Wahkiakum and Cowlitz Counties before he was appointed to the first state Rep. seat for the 19th District in 2005. He won every reelection campaign until he was then appointed to the state Senate in 2015 where he continued to reclaim his seat in 2016 and 2018.
Takko has said his campaign essentially has the same focus it has had in all of his reelection campaigns: keeping an open mind and ears to both sides of the aisle. Takko has consistently touted his ability to compromise with Republican lawmakers.
At a recent debate between Takko and Wilson, Takko said one of his biggest priorities is expanding broadband internet access throughout the district and giving PUDs retail authority over providing the services.
Additionally, Takko has characterized himself as an advocate of the natural resource industries and says the support he receives from the local natural resource industries is evidence that he has and continues to fight for them.
