1. Huynh and Payne (obviously) have the upper hand going into the general election.


From the top line results, with both Huynh and Payne both breaking 50 percent, this seems obvious. But, when you look deeper at the map, you can really see how both Robbi Kesler and Corey Gauny are boxed in. From an analysis I did four years ago, I found that neighborhoods with more left-leaning voters tend to stay home during the primary. So, if you are a right-leaning candidate, you need to do really well to make up for the loss of ground due to higher turnout in the general.
Looking specifically at the Kesler/Huynh map, you see how Kesler’s geographic center is in SE Olympia, with a far SW side precinct thrown in. Huynh is even able to get across I-5 into SE Olympia, pinning Kesler into several traditionally right leaning precincts.

I didn’t map Bruce Wilkinson’s precincts in with Huynh or Kesler, because he didn’t even come close to winning any. But when you do look at his precinct level results (however small) his strongest precincts are already on Huynh’s side:

Kesler looking to his supporters for help in November likely will not be a fruitful effort.
2. Lisa Parshley has more territory to win than Talauna Reed

This is probably the most interesting race to map. But first, I have a mea culpa. I was wrong about Talauna Reed doing well in SE Olympia. I had seen a fair number of Reed signs down on that side of town, specifically in front of houses with anti-density and housing options signs. I also based it on what I saw in the returns in 2019, when a progressive anti-density candidate did better in SE Olympia (and in more conservative precincts overall for that matter) in her losing effort. What I think likely happened is that housing is less of an issue this year, than Missing Middle or Housing Options.
And this is why I think the ground being ceded by Wendy Carlson (who lost in the primary) will be easier for Parshley to win in the general than Reed. Carlson (like other right of center candidates) had her center of gravity in SE Olympia. But she failed to win anywhere else, even some far Westside precincts that have been pretty dependable for conservative candidates.

Who did win those other precincts was Parshley. In fact, when you look at the Cooper/Weigand map below, you can see plenty of places where both Parshley and Weigand won. Weigand had the best show map of the conservative candidates, so you’d expect that he’d have some overlap with candidates outside his lane. But that he overlapped most with Parshley gives her the best chance of picking up Carlson’s precincts.

3. Cooper/Weigand will be a repeat of Parshley/Miller from 2019

Just a repeat I made earlier in the first point, conservatives need to do amazingly well in the primary to be able to last through the rising turnout in November. Weigand did as well as any conservative, but not well enough. His map is pretty classic for a conservative, winning in SE Olympia and out far on the Westside. He even took some near in water view precincts. 

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But again, his finish behind Cooper (both in the low 40s) isn’t enough to carry him past the general.