Democrats are poised to control the entire West Coast with a win in a Washington State Senate race on Tuesday that would end Republicans’ one-seat majority in that chamber.
The New York Timesnotes that the race for the suburban 45th district could create a “blue wall” from the Mexican to the Canadian border, if Democrats win as expected on Tuesday.
The race bits Democrat prosecutor Manka Dingra, 43, against Republican policy consultant Jinyoung Lee Englund, 33. The district backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.
In what could be an ominous sign for Republicans in 2018, Dingra has harnessed the energy of the anti-Trump “resistance” to boost her campaign. Alternatively, Englund’s struggles could be read as a lesson for Republicans in how not to run: she has attempted to distance herself from the president, touting the fact that she did not vote for him, the Times notes.
Englund has argued that voters should beware of total Democratic control of the state, especially as Democrat governor Jay Inslee has suggested unifying Washington, Oregon, California, and parts of Canada in a carbon taxation system.
The seat was formerly held by Republican Andy Hill, who died of lung cancer last year. Now, however, it seems to be trending in the same direction as the rest of wealthy, coastal, upscale America, which places cultural issues (including the environment) ahead of traditional Republican issues like lower taxes and regulations.
Though maps of the U.S. show Trump supporters occupying the bulk of the country’s land mass, with Hillary Clinton supporters reduced to an “archipelago,” Democratic control of all three state governments on the West Coast would be a potent geographic and psychological milestone.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
