Two years ago, Democrat Carmela Conroy was defeated by Michael Baumgartner for a seat in Congress. On Tuesday, she won enough support for a rematch.
The former diplomat and deputy prosecutor clinched second place quickly after polls closed Tuesday night — outpacing third-place finisher Nate Powell, an independent, by 6.5 percentage points in unofficial tallies.
Baumgartner, the sole Republican in the 5th Congressional District race, led the pack with 48%, with all 12 counties in the Eastern Washington district reporting Tuesday night. He was followed by Conroy with 20.8%. The only other candidate to poll above 5% was Independent Powell, who initially received 14.4%.
At his campaign headquarters in downtown Spokane, Baumgartner said he was "thrilled" with the result.
"Given that it is the same opponent that I beat by 20% last year, I think we're gonna be in a strong position in the general election," he said.
Conroy's election watch party celebrated when the initial results came in showing her with a slight lead over Powell. Conroy wore a pin that said "Union Thug and proud of it," which she says was given to her by a voter during canvassing. "I'm wearing it for luck," Conroy said.
The two-time congressional candidate declared she could defeat Baumgartner this go-round because of his record supporting President Donald Trump.
"His votes have been very clear that he would rather toe the party line than get in trouble with his leadership on behalf of the people of Eastern Washington," she said.
Conroy was squarely defeated by Baumgartner in 2024, who won with just over 60% of the vote in the general election. Conroy immediately announced her comeback upon losing to the Republican and has been running against him for much of the past two years.
While she pitched herself as a moderate in the primary two years ago, she has taken a much more progressive slant in this race. She supports a $16 federal minimum wage, federally required paid time off and paid sick leave, and a universal, single-payer healthcare system.
A Marine Corps veteran and Spokane firefighter, Powell hoped to beat Baumgartner by ditching the Democratic Party label. He came up short of that goal Tuesday.
Powell appeared surprised when results came in Tuesday.
"We're losing," he said at a Spokane Firefighter Union building in the lower South Hill.
Powell agreed when a campaign aide added "by more than I expected."
The political independent vowed to back the Democrat in the general election.
"Anyone who is not Baumgartner is who will get my support coming out of this. I'll do everything I can to support her in whatever capacity she feels best," he said.
As Powell became a frontrunner late in the race, his financial backing became a focus for Republicans and Democrats alike. Super PAC Working Class Heroes Fund spent more than a million dollars to support Powell. In the final days of the primary, Baumgartner blitzed the airways with an attack ad labeling Powell as a plant for "hedge fund traders" and "Silicon Valley billionaires."
As results came in, Baumgartner said voters were "too smart for the attempt to bamboozle them."
"The $1.3 million that this dark money PAC put in to try to bamboozle the voters with this fake independent candidate, that was just an unprecedented amount of money," Baumgartner said.
That the congressman is under 50% of the vote is a welcoming sign for those who oppose Baumgartner, but it may not be enough. During Trump's first term, Democrats made a concerted effort to topple Republican incumbent Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. In the two-woman primary fight McMorris-Rogers only received 49.3% of the vote against Mayor Lisa Brown.
Amid historic unpopularity of Trump and a national blue wave, Democrats hoped an encouraging primary result would translate to a surprise upset in the fall. McMorris-Rodgers went on to win the 2018 general election by nearly 10 percentage points.
The national political environment is remarkably similar in 2026. Trump is historically unpopular, with many polls showing him below 35% approval nationwide. Nationally, Democrats are hopeful they can retake a House majority and have an outside chance at flipping the Senate.
A Republican has comfortably held the seat since former Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley was defeated in 1994.
All other candidates ran far behind the front of the pack. The only other candidates to receive more than 3% of the vote were Kevin Fagan and David Womack. The Democrats received 3.6% and 4%, respectively. The majority of the 11 candidates polled between 1% and 2%.
Candidate Bajun Mavalwalla, who received 2.9%, said he would support Conroy in the fall but would not have supported Powell if he had advanced.
"I will back any of the Democrats," he said. "I cannot, in good conscience, back up Nate Powell. Integrity is an important aspect of what we do. And everyone else, I think, has met that bar."
The sprawling 5th Congressional District includes Spokane, Whitman, Stevens, Walla Walla, Ferry, Pend Oreille, Lincoln, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, as well as parts of Adam and Franklin counties.