The 2026 Washington State Senate election will be held on November 3, 2026, alongside the other 2026 United States elections. Voters will elect 24 of the 49 the members of the Washington State Senate in the U.S. state of Washington's legislative districts to serve a four-year term.
Elections will be held concurrently with the 2026 US midterm election, as well as elections to the US House of Representatives, Washington State House, Washington Supreme Court, and various county and local offices. Primary elections will be held on August 4, 2026 using a top-two primary where all candidates are listed on the same ballot and the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election.
This will be the first electoral cycle for this cohort of State Senators using the new legislative district boundaries after the court ordered redistricting in 2024. The redistricting was triggered when U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Washington Robert Lasnik ruled that the 15th District as it was drawn in 2022 was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The seats up for election in the State Senate in 2026 that had boundary changes due to this redistricting are District 7, District 8, District 13, District 15, and District 31.
Partisan background Of the State Senate seats that are up for election in 2026, only the 35th District is held by a Republican in a legislative district that Kamala Harris won in 2024. In addition, of the districts with a Senator up for election in 2026, only the 26th District has a member of the State House from the same district who is of a different party than the incumbent State Senator.
All other districts up for election in 2026 are represented by the party whose presidential nominee carried the district in 2024 and are of the same political party as both members of the State House from their district. On April 16th, 2026, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) announced that they would be investing in Washington state legislative races to protect incumbents and flip seats. They did not announce investments in any specific races at that time.
Outgoing incumbents
Retirements
District 8: Matt Boehnke (R) is retiring to run for Congress. District 13: Judy Warnick (R) is retiring District 29: Steve Conway (D) is retiring. District 37: Rebecca Saldaña (D) is retiring to run for the King County Council. District 42: Sharon Shewmake (D) is retiring.
Incumbents running in a new district District 15: Nikki Torres (R) is running in the 8th District. Predictions SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal Ball January 22, 2026
Summary of results by district
Districts not listed were not up for election in 2026. † Incumbent did not seek re-election in that seat.
District Incumbent Party Elected Senator Outcome 6th Rep TBD 7th Rep TBD 8th † Rep TBD 13th † Rep TBD 15th † Rep TBD 21st Dem TBD 26th Dem TBD 29th † Dem TBD 30th Dem TBD 31st Rep TBD 32nd Dem TBD 33rd Dem TBD 34th Dem TBD 35th Rep TBD 36th Dem TBD 37th † Dem TBD 38th Dem TBD 42nd † Dem TBD 43rd Dem TBD 44th Dem TBD 45th Dem TBD 46th Dem TBD 47th Dem TBD 48th Dem TBD
List of districts District 6 • District 7 • District 8 • District 13 • District 15 • District 21 • District 26 • District 29 • District 30 • District 31 • District 32 • District 33 • District 34 • District 35 • District 36 • District 37 • District 38 • District 42 • District 43 • District 44 • District 45 • District 46 • District 47 • District 48 __NOTOC__
District 6 The 6th district is represented by Republican Jeff Holy, who is eligible to run for re-election but has not yet stated if he will do so.
Candidates
Advacned to general
Jeff Holy (Republican), incumbent state senator
Endorsements
Results
District 7 The 7th district is represented by Republican Shelly Short, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Ronald McCoy (Independent), former mayor of Chewelah, Chewelah City Council member, and candidate for state house in the 7th district in 2024 Shelly Short (Republican), incumbent state senator
Eliminated in primary
Brandon Ray Medina (Republican) David Swoap (Republican)
Endorsements
Results
District 8 The 8th district is represented by Republican Matt Boehnke, who is retiring to run for U.S. House in Washington's 4th congressional district to replace retiring incumbent Dan Newhouse (R-Sunnyside).
Candidates
Advanced to general
Gabe Galbraith (Republican), president of the Kennewick School Board Nikki Torres (Republican), incumbent state senator for the 15th district
Declined
Matt Boehnke (Republican), incumbent state senator (running for U.S. House) Stephanie Barnard (Republican), state representative for the 8th district April Connors (Republican), state representative for the 8th district
Withdrawn
Douglas McKinley (Democratic), lawyer and candidate for WA CD 4 in 2020
Endorsements State legislators Stephanie Barnard, state representative from the 8th district April Connors, state representative from the 8th district Organizations Mainstream Republicans of Washingtonhttps://www.washingtonmainstream.org/endorsements-1
Results
District 13 The 13th district is represented by Republican Judy Warnick who is retiring.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Alex Ybarra (Republican), incumbent state representative for the 13th district
Declined
Tom Dent (Republican), incumbent state representative Judy Warnick (Republican), incumbent state senator
Endorsements
Results
District 15 The 15th district is represented by Republican Nikki Torres, who initially was going to run for re-election in this seat, but decided to run for the 8th district's open state senate seat vacated by Matt Boehnke.
Sen. Torres was first elected to this seat in 2022, but was drawn out of the district by court ordered redistricting in 2024. She continued to represent the district in the Senate despite no longer residing in it.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Jeremie Dufault (Republican), incumbent state representative for the 15th district
Declined Nikki Torres (Republican), incumbent state senator (running in the 8th district)
Endorsements
State legislators Chris Corry, state representative from the 15th district
Local officials Matt Brown, mayor of Yakima
Results
District 21 The 21st district is represented by Democrat Marko Liias, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Riaz Khan (Republican), former Mukilteo City Council member, former vice-chair of the 21st District Democrats, and candidate for state house in this district in 2024 Marko Liias (Democratic), incumbent state senator
Results
District 26 The 26th district is represented by Democrat Deborah Krishnadasan, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Deborah Krishnadasan (Democratic), incumbent state senator Gary Parker (Republican), restaurant owner
Endorsements
Results
District 29 The 29th district is represented by Democrat Steve Conway, who is retiring. Sharlett Mena confirmed she would run for the seat and Melanie Morgan, the other state representative for the district, stated she would support Mena for the state senate seat.
Candidates
Advanced to general
David Anderson (Democratic), STEM professor at Tacoma Community College Sharlett Mena (Democratic), incumbent state representative for the 29th district
Declined
Steve Conway (Democratic), incumbent state senator for the 29th district Melanie Morgan (Democratic), incumbent state representative for the 29th district Endorsements
Results
District 30 The 30th district is represented by Democrat Claire Wilson, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Michael Rutland (Republican) Claire Wilson (Democratic), incumbent state senator
Results
District 31 The 31st district is represented by Republican Phil Fortunato, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Phil Fortunato (Republican), incumbent state senator Tamara Stramel (Democratic)
Endorsements
Results
District 32 The 32nd district is represented by Democrat Jesse Salomon, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Cindy Ryu (Democratic), incumbent state representative for the 32nd district Jesse Salomon (Democratic), incumbent state senator
Eliminated in primary
Ira McBee (Republican)
Results
District 33 The 33rd district is represented by Democrat Tina Orwall, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Tina Orwall (Democratic), incumbent state senator
Results
District 34 The 34th district is represented by Democrat Emily Alvarado, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Emily Alvarado (Democratic), incumbent state senator
Results
District 35 The 35th district is represented by Republican Drew MacEwen, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Drew MacEwen (Republican), incumbent state senator Carolina Mejia (Democratic), Thurston County Council member
Endorsements
Results
District 36 The 36th district is represented by Democrat Noel Frame, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Jillian England (Republican), 36th District Republicans vice-chair Noel Frame (Democratic), incumbent state senator
Results
District 37 The 37th district is represented by Democrat Rebecca Saldaña, who will not run for re-election. She will run for the King County Council District 2 seat that was vacated by Girmay Zahilay when he won election to become King County Executive in November 2025. The two representatives for the district Chipalo Street and Sharon Tomiko Santos stated that they discussed who should run for her vacant seat and decided that Rep. Street would.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Tatiana Brown (Democratic), public health and policy researcher Chipalo Street (Democratic), incumbent state representative for the 37th district
Declined
Rebecca Saldaña (Democratic), incumbent state senator Sharon Tomiko Santos (Democratic), state representative
Withdrawn
Emijah Smith (Democratic), community organizer and candidate for state house in this district in 2022
Results
District 38 The 38th district is represented by Democrat June Robinson, who is running for re-election.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Brad Bender (Republican) June Robinson (Democratic), incumbent state senator
Results
District 42 The 42nd district is represented by Democrat Sharon Shewmake, who will not seek re-election. Both Democratic State Representatives for the district have also declined to seek the Senate seat.
Candidates
Advanced to general
Erika Creydt (Republican), clinical psychologist and Blaine School Board director Michael Shepard (Democratic), Port of Bellingham commissioner
Eliminated in Primary Ryan Bowman (Independent), full-time caregiver and small business owner Eamonn Collins (Democratic), teacher at the Lummi Nation School, chair of the Whatcom County Democrats
Declined
Ben Elenbaas (Republican), incumbent Whatcom County Council member Alicia Rule (Democratic), state representative Simon Sefzik (Republican), former state senator Sharon Shewmake (Democratic), incumbent state senator (retiring) Joe Timmons (Democratic), state representative
Endorsements
Local officials Kaylee Galloway, Whatcom County Council member for district 1 (2022–present) Elizabeth Boyle, Whatcom County Council member for district 2 (2026–present) Jessica Rienstra, Whatcom County Council member for district 3 (2026–present) Jon Scanlon, Whatcom County Council member for at-large position B (2024–present) Jace Cotton Bellingham City Council member (2024–present)
State legislators