A recount has confirmed Democrat Adrian Cortes’ victory in a fierce contest for an open seat in the Washington state Senate.

Cortes, a Battle Ground council member, defeated Republican Brad Benton by 173 votes following a machine recount of ballots cast in the 18th Legislative District in southwest Washington.

Initial certified results showed Cortes winning by 172 votes, a difference of 0.2%. He added one vote in the recount conducted Monday.

Cortes will succeed retiring Republican Sen. Ann Rivers and, when he enters office in January, he will become the first Democrat to represent the legislative district in more than a generation.

The duel between Cortes and Benton, the son of former state senator Don Benton, was a costly one with the candidates and outside interests combining to spend nearly $2 million to sway voters. It was the only race for a legislative or statewide office in the November election that required votes to be retallied.

“In one of the most expensive legislative races in the state, we did what some thought couldn’t be done,” Cortes said. “After a free and fair election our message won the day; now I’ll focus on serving the people well in the state Senate.”

State law requires a machine recount when the difference between candidates is less than 2,000 votes and also less than half of 1% of the total votes cast for both candidates.

With Cortes’ win, the Senate Democratic Caucus will gain one seat in the 2025 session and outnumber Republicans by a margin of 30-19.

The recount results were scheduled to be certified Thursday at a meeting of the Clark County canvassing board.

The session begins Jan. 13 and is scheduled to last 105 days.

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