Democrats are at risk of getting boxed out of the general election in the Washington state lands commissioner race.

Two Republicans – former congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler and retired utility analyst Sue Kuehl Pederson – led following Tuesday’s first tally of ballots. Herrera Beutler garnered 22.6% of the vote. Pederson, who ran for the office in 2020, was next with 20.3%.

Meanwhile, five Democrats were splitting the rest of the vote.

Dave Upthegrove, a King County Council member and former state lawmaker, was out front among the party’s contenders with 19.9%. Patrick DePoe, who since last year has been the Department of Natural Resources director of tribal relations and has the endorsement of current lands commissioner Hilary Franz, had 13.2%.

Next was Allen Lebovitz, who has worked as a wildland fire and forest resilience liaison for the commissioner of public lands and as a state wildland firefighter, with 10.8%. He’s not held elected office and reported raising less than $4,000 during the campaign. State Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, had 8.2% of the vote and Jeralee Anderson 5%.

The lands commissioner oversees nearly 6 million acres of public land, including about 3 million acres of state “trust lands” that produce revenue – mostly from logging – for schools, counties and other parts of government. They also run the Department of Natural Resources, which has about 2,200 employees and is the state’s lead wildfire-fighting agency.

Businesses in the forestry and wood products industries, local governments that receive timber sale revenue, and environmental groups are among those with a heavy interest in the race.

Franz, a Democrat who’s held the job two terms, isn’t running for reelection, instead competing for an open U.S. House seat in western Washington.

The lands commissioner role has taken on a higher profile as the state has dealt with large and destructive wildfires over the past decade.

Another issue the next commissioner will confront is how to handle what conservationists have dubbed “legacy forests” – mature forests, with older but not necessarily old-growth trees. Activists have filed lawsuits and engaged in public campaigns to prevent logging of these tracts.

For Herrera Beutler, the race marks a return to electoral politics. She represented southwest Washington in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023 but lost a reelection bid in the 2022 primary.

In her view, the department’s forest management decisions have become subject to too much political pressure from advocates who want to set land aside from logging – a move she argues could make state acreage more prone to wildfires. She’s emphasized that she wants to balance environmental priorities with rural economic needs.

Department of Natural Resources timber sale income totaled about $209 million in fiscal 2023 and the department’s total revenue was around $474 million. Apart from logging lands, the department manages property used for farming and grazing, tideland leased to shellfish producers, and a limited amount of commercial real estate, including offices and warehouses.

Pederson is making her second run at leading the department. In 2020, she lost in the general election to Franz, securing about 43% of the vote.

In this election cycle, she’s raised concerns about declines in the state’s timber industry and that forests are too thick with trees, raising wildfire hazards. She’d like to see forests broken up into more segments to reduce fire risks. She said that one of her priorities if elected would be working with community colleges and labor unions to expand the state’s forestry workforce.

Her campaign manager, Sam Cardwell, said by text Tuesday night that Pederson was “humbled by the results of this evening’s election.”

“Sue is excited to see the results come in over the next couple of days,” Cardwell added.

Upthegrove, who has backing from some of the state’s leading environmental groups, has made legacy forests a centerpiece of his campaign, promising to preserve them if elected.

He’s the only candidate who’s taken up the cause assertively. And he believes revenue the state would gain from logging the older trees could be made up by harvesting trees in other areas. He rejects the notion that clearcutting these forests is the best way to prevent wildfires.

“This race is far too close to call,” Upthegrove said in an emailed statement. “While I am excited to be the top Democrat, I currently trail the two Republicans narrowly. Fortunately, there are still lots of votes to be counted, and I am optimistic that the later counts will trend in our direction given my strong showing in King County.” He added: “It will likely be a couple days yet before we know the outcome.”

As a member of the Makah Tribe, DePoe would be the first Native American to hold statewide office in Washington if elected. He made a case that he’d bring a unique perspective to the job given that he hails from Neah Bay, a rural community on the Makah Indian Reservation that is located near the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula.

Although Tuesday night his prospects were dimming, his campaign predicted the race “will not be decided until late next week at the earliest.”

“Growing up on the Makah Reservation with just 1700 people, I never expected to be in a position to make history. I am beyond grateful to the thousands of grassroots supporters,” he said in a statement.

DePoe identified climate change and wildfires as top issues the office of the lands commissioner is grappling with and said he wants to reinvigorate existing processes for managing land and other resources while trying to avoid getting bogged down in litigation.

Van De Wege, a professional firefighter, campaigned heavily on combating wildfires. He wanted to expand the state’s year-round wildland firefighting staff and boost firefighter pay, and he’s interested in the state purchasing, rather than leasing, firefighting aircraft. A 2021 state law, House Bill 1168, commits $500 million over eight years to deal with fires.

Over a dozen firefighter union locals endorsed Van De Wege. But his chances of clearing the primary have all but evaporated. Reached by text message he said he had no comment on the voting results.

Upthegrove is the top fundraiser in the race, with $587,239 in reported contributions, according to filings with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission. Next is Herrera Beutler with $430,117. Van De Wege has raised $340,977, DePoe $220,829, and Pederson $29,492. Anderson reported less than $2,500 in contributions and Lebovitz raised about $3,900, including $1,500 in loans.

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