When Donna Sinclair ran as a Democrat for a House seat in Washington’s 18^th Legislative District in 2020, she said, the tone of politics was different from today. Sinclair lost that bid to flip a seat in one of two Republican-held Southwest Washington districts, but not because attack ads targeted her, or because a torrent of campaign donations by political action committees favored her opponent.

“It was very collegial,” she recalled.

But now, the campaign tactics for the state’s 18^th and 17^th districts have become more negative, while PAC spending to bolster Republican candidates is pouring into the races, said Sinclair, now the vice chair of the Clark County Democrats. She’s received attack ads in the mail where she now lives in the 17^th district. That’s with more than three months to go before the November general election, and before Tuesday’s primary election.

“I’ve never had that happen,” she said. “In a primary, where we don’t even have competition beyond the Republican and the Democrat.”

The races are heating up in these districts as Democrats see a chance to use party enthusiasm to take control of the seats and get closer to their goal of winning a supermajority in the state legislature. Two PACs are responding with cash against Democratic campaigns, even as the state’s Republican party leader dismisses the idea that either district is likely to go blue.

The 17^th district runs from the suburbs of east Vancouver through Skamania County and portions of Klickitat County along the Columbia River Gorge. The 18^th district includes north Clark County, including Battle Ground.

In 2024, these seats were some of the closest races in the state, according to Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. That year, the 18^th district Senate seat was flipped by Democrat Adrian Cortes by just 189 votes.

“We’re hopeful for a number of districts around the state but particularly in Southwest Washington,” Conrad said. “We feel like this is our best opportunities to get as close or to supermajorities.”

Democrats would need to gain 10 seats across both chambers to get a supermajority, according to Conrad. That would allow them to carry votes that require two-thirds majority support from both the House and Senate, to take actions like redrawing congressional maps or codifying abortion rights in the state Constitution.

Concern over the 17^th and 18^th Districts from Republicans is perhaps best shown in growing outside spending against all four Democratic candidates in the districts. Each House district has a position 1 and 2 officeholder.

Each of those four Democratic candidates is facing around $100,000 in PAC spending against their campaigns, according to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, which tracks money in politics. The groups behind those payments are Citizens for Responsible Governance and Southwest Communities First, according to PDC records.

Campaign finance and tax records show the groups are offshoots of a Lacey-based organization, Enterprise Washington. Its website says it runs programs “aimed at pro-business lawmakers.”

“We can connect the dots between what your business or organization wants and how to get it,” its website states.

An Enterprise Washington representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A website for Southwest Communities First notes that its “top three donors to PAC contributors” are the Washington State Dental Association, Washington Realtors Association and Washington Hospital Services.

The four Republican incumbents in the 17^th and 18^th House Districts have no independent expenditures against their campaigns.

At this point, the state Republican party is not worried about holding onto those seats, according to its Chairman Jim Walsh.

“We’re watching,” he said. “But we see no foundational reason that these are going to be close, toss-up, super swing races.”

As for Democrats’ goal of capturing a supermajority in the legislature?

“It’s fairytales,” he said.

There are other factors in this election that could work against Democrats, Walsh said. For example, the outcome of the primary race for the 3^rd Congressional District could sour some progressive Democrats on voting at all in November.

Sinclair with the Clark County Democrats attributes the changes in local elections to the current tone in national politics.

“We’ve seen how nasty the rhetoric is at the national level, and I think that has impacted everyone,” she said.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/07/31/pac-spending-surges-southwest-washington/