Mona Das is running for State Senate against Sen. Joe Fain, who was accused of rape by Candace Faber in late September. Fain denies the allegation.
Democrat Mona Das is running for State Senate against Sen. Joe Fain, who was accused of rape by Candace Faber in late September. Fain denies the allegation. Courtesy of Mona Das

After Thursday's ballot drop, we're still looking at a lot of close races in the Washington State legislature.

The big news is Democrat Mona Das is now leading Sen. Joe Fain in the 47th Legislative District. She was down by 90 yesterday, but now she's up by 206 votes.

Over in the 26th Legislative District, first-time Democratic candidate Emily Randall is holding her lead over Pierce County Republican chair Marty McClendon. She's up 424 votes.

Up north, Bellingham City Councilmember Pinky Vargas trails State Senator Doug Ericksen by 208 votes, which sucks. She was only down 122 yesterday. For the State House seats, first-time candidate and DSA member Justin Boneau trails two-term state House Rep. Luanne Van Werven by 261 votes. But Republican Rep. Vincent Buys is losing by 810 votes to his Democratic challenger, Sharon Shewmaker.

In southwest Washington, Democrats were hoping to make gains in the 17th and 19th Legislative Districts, but so far that's not quite panning out. In the 17th, Rep. Vicki Kraft has extended her lead on Democrat Tanisha Harris to 801 votes. In the 19th, Rep. Jim Walsh is now leading Erin Frasier by 546 votes.

Out east, Republican Jenny Graham slightly increased her lead over Democrat Dave Wilson from 250 to 295 for a State House seat.

Democrats seem a little closer to picking up 8 seats in the House, and if Das's lead holds, it looks like they might pick up 3 seats in the Senate. All of this could of course change when more ballots drop tomorrow.

In races we forgot to scream about yesterday: Jesse Salomon is stomping all over two-term State Senator Maralyn Chase, who called the SECB "rude" after we asked her why she hasn't done much with all her power in Olympia. He's leading 69 to 31. Nice.

And, just to leave you with something sweet on your tongue, even though Dino Rossi conceded victory to Kim Schrier in his bid for Washington's 8th Congressional District, Schrier increased her lead by 1,596 votes. And here I thought we'd be chasing ballots for the next two weeks!