Racist hairpiece Donald Trump claims to be bringing "millions and millions" of new voters into the Republican party. That is not true. But what about people already in the party? Will Trump's candidacy energize them enough to get them to show up in November—not just for Trump but for Republicans in state and Congressional races too? In Washington state, don't count on it, says local political consultant Ben Anderstone. In a piece on Crosscut today, Anderstone argues that the results of last week's primary show "Trump is putting the Republican Party’s standing in the Puget Sound region, especially suburban areas, in jeopardy."

On Election Night, 73.2 percent of King County ballots were Democratic. That figure has retreated slightly to 72.5 percent after additional ballot counts, but nonetheless, it’s unprecedented. That’s higher than Barack Obama received for both his first run (70.0 percent) and re-election (68.7 percent). It’s also way more than the proportion of Democratic ballots in the presidential primary before that record-setting first win (66.8%).

Trump may have overwhelmingly won the Republican side, but he did so with a record-low share of suburbanites picking the GOP option.

While "working-class areas" like Grays Harbor County and Kelso-Longview did see an increase in Republican voters, Anderstone writes, "the bleeding in well-educated suburbs (and well-educated Seattle) was so bad that the statewide Republican vote share actually fell." That's bad news for state Republicans, who are focused on legislative races in places like Auburn and Kirkland.

Today, Democrats control the state house and Republicans control the state senate. Heading toward November, both parties are angling to protect what they have and pick up enough seats in the other chamber to flip it. For Republicans—who've chosen a particularly underwhelming gubernatorial candidate—gaining control of the state legislature is their best hope of foiling Democratic Governor Jay Inslee. (As I've written before, if Seattle progressives want real change on the issues they care about—reproductive rights, voter access, climate change—they need to donate to and volunteer for progressive candidates outside of the city.)

Washington State Republicans claim they aren't worried about Trump.

In a Seattle Times story over the weekend, House Republican Organizational Committee director Kevin Carns said, “I’m pretty confident there’s going to be a new party in control in January.” Last week, after Trump won the state primary, Washington State GOP Chair Susan Hutchison released a statement reading in part: "With a strong candidate at the top of the GOP ticket, Jay Inslee and other Democrats will be at a disadvantage, while Republican candidates for statewide and legislative offices will be given a boost."

What do you think, Slog? Is Trump going to hurt Republicans in the suburbs, as Anderstone argues, spelling good news for the Democrats trying to regain control of the state senate? Or will he energize all of our weird conservative relatives in the suburbs, turning them out for Republicans all the way down the ballot and handing the state house to Republicans? Discuss.