Washington will hold a primary election Tuesday for U.S. House seats and other offices, while firefighters battle wildfires that have forced evacuation orders in Spokane and prompted a state of emergency.

The primary uses a top-two system in which all candidates appear on a single ballot and the two candidates receiving the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Polls close at 8 p.m. Pacific Time, and voters may verify ballot receipt and request replacements through the state website; ballots must be hand-postmarked at a post office or deposited in a drop box by 8 p.m. local time.

Approximately 67,000 residents in the Spokane area remain under evacuation orders. Washington conducts elections primarily by mail, with 58.5 percent of 2024 primary voters delivering ballots via drop boxes and 41.3 percent by mail; about 780,000 ballots had been cast as of Friday.

In the 3rd Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez seeks a third term against eight primary challengers, including Republican state Senate Minority Leader John Braun, who has received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Trump received 50.3 percent of the vote in the district in 2024, compared with 47 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The 4th Congressional District is open because incumbent Republican Dan Newhouse is retiring after six terms. Eleven candidates, including Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney and former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler, are running, and Trump endorsed McKinney in January. Newhouse was one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Incumbents are running for reelection in nine of the state’s ten congressional districts. All 98 state House seats and about half of the 49 state Senate seats are up for election in 2026, with Democrats holding roughly 60 percent of seats in both chambers.

Three of the nine state Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Debra Stephens, appear on the ballot, with a fourth seat also contested; the seats are nonpartisan and liberals currently hold a majority.

Election officials have advised voters in affected areas to use the state website to confirm ballot receipt and obtain replacements. Machine recounts are automatic if the margin between the top two candidates is fewer than 2,000 votes and less than 0.5 percent of the total votes; manual recounts apply under stricter thresholds for statewide contests and other races. The Associated Press will declare winners only when a trailing candidate cannot close the gap.

The primary is part of a broader set of elections that also include contests in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Virginia, with the next midterm elections scheduled for 2026.