Lisa Wellman and My-Linh Thai were leading their races for seats in the Legislative District 41, which covers King County and includes Mercer Island, when the opening four days of results were updated on Nov. 6 on the King County Elections site.

In the State Senator race, Wellman (D) garnered 69.99 percent of the votes and led Mike Nykreim (R), who had 29.90 percent of the votes at press time.

In the State Representative Pos. 2 race, Thai (D) accumulated 66.68 percent of the votes and led Al Rosenthal (R), who had 33.23 percent of the votes at press time.

Tana Senn (D), the sole candidate for the two-year term of State Representative Pos. 1, amassed 96.14 percent of the votes at press time.

At press time, 85.45 percent of the Legislative District 41 ballots had been counted.

Incumbent Wellman has said she wants to end divisive, partisan politics and create bonds aimed at building an even stronger, fairer economy that benefits everyone.

“To the citizens of the 41st District of Washington, thank you for your faith and trust in me to continue our work for another term,” Wellman said. “We are living in turbulent times and yet here in Washington we are clear on our mission and purpose. We stand together to improve our education system, address this Covid pandemic, improve our economy and protect our environment.”

Thai, the incumbent, has noted that as a state representative she’s worked to improve educational outcomes for all students, and has voted for record investments in affordable housing, mental health, public health, stronger gun laws and 100 percent renewable energy.

“This is my first re-election bid. To not only endure collectively the pain of tremendous loss due to the pandemic, I endure the cuts and divisions within my Vietnamese Americans community,” Thai said in a press release posted on her Facebook page. “Regardless of where you are on the spectrum of ideology, I’m committed to #HealthCareforAll , #PublicHealth, #MentalHealth #EquitableEducation opportunity, #ClimateJustice, #PoliceAccountability, #SystemicChange, #Equity. I’m committed to ensuring our community thriving. I’m humbled and honored!”

Senn, a former Mercer Island City Councilmember, has held her representative seat since 2013. She has listed equal pay, affordable child care, quality education and children’s mental health among the chief issues of her campaign.

“The Blue Wave in Washington did not disappoint. Now we need to hold tight and see how far it spreads across the country. The key is to have every vote count,” Senn said. “We know from experience in Washington state that final results can look different from election night snapshots. Plus, it is the American way and what elections are all about.”

Rosenthal earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Manhattan College and worked as an aircraft structural analyst from 1977-2014 for Grumman, McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. As an engineer, he has said he works with facts and data and wants to use his experience to solve problems.

“I ran for office because I did not want to see the state of Washington become more like Seattle. I appreciate Asian Americans that contacted me with their support because like myself they are against race-based admission to Washington universities. They are also like myself against the state dictating sex education to K-12 instead of the school districts where parents have more say in the sex education of their children,” Rosenthal said. “Hopefully at some point voters realize that Democrat control of the state of Washington will cause the state to become more like Seattle with its lack of safety and inefficient spending of the taxpayers’ money.”

Nykreim, a custom home builder with a bachelor of science degree in construction management from the University of Washington, has said that prudent management of tax dollars will be crucial to solving traffic congestion issues, lack of affordable housing and other problems plaguing the state.

The Reporter reached out to Nykreim for a comment, but he didn’t respond by press time.

Results will be updated at 4:30 p.m. most days in November at https://cd.kingcounty.gov/en/elections/results.

Final results will be verified at 4 p.m. Nov. 24.