Justice Theo Angelis held a commanding lead over retired Federal Way Municipal Court Judge Dave Larson statewide in early returns Tuesday night in the race for Position 5 on the Washington Supreme Court.
Statewide, Angelis had 634,941 votes, or 58.1%, to Larson’s 455,209, or 41.6%, according to the Washington Secretary of State.
Kitsap County voters also favored Angelis, 55.8% to 43.9%, or 46,395 votes to 36,527, according to unofficial results posted by the Kitsap County Auditor’s Office at 8:13 p.m. Tuesday.
Countywide, 92,136 ballots had been counted, a turnout of 45.1% of Kitsap County’s 204,242 registered voters.
The Kitsap County Auditor’s Office will keep counting ballots in the coming days, including mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day, and results can change. The county is scheduled to certify the election Nov. 24.
The winner will serve a two-year unexpired term.
Angelis, 54, was appointed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on March 9 to replace retiring Justice Barbara Madsen and joined the court April 4. A former appellate and intellectual property litigator at the Seattle firm K&L Gates, he has emphasized judicial independence and access to justice. He is endorsed by the other justices and Democratic organizations.
Larson, 68, a retired Federal Way Municipal Court judge, is making his fifth run for the high court after campaigns in 2000, 2016, 2020 and 2024, when he lost to Justice Sal Mungia by about half a percentage point. He has the support of the state Republican Party.
In the four-way August primary, Angelis received about 36% statewide to Larson’s 32%. In Kitsap County, Angelis received about 35% and Larson 33%. The winner fills the remaining two years of Madsen’s term. Washington Supreme Court races are nonpartisan.
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