Democrat Emily Randall has built a commanding early lead over Republican challenger Teresa Fox in the race for Washington's 6th Congressional District, with a count taken around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday showing Randall ahead by roughly 30 percentage points. Ballots remained to be counted, with totals expected to continue coming in over the following days. The 6th District stretches from Tacoma through the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas.
According to a report citing that Tuesday evening count from Big Country News Connection, Randall had 153,397 votes, or 64.68%, to Fox's 83,371 votes, or 35.15%. The News Tribune reported a separate tally showing Randall with 130,589 votes (64.81%) to Fox's 70,685 votes (35.01%), a lead of 29.8 percentage points. The News Tribune identified Randall as the incumbent.
A District Still Counting Votes
Vote tallies were expected to continue in the coming days. The New York Times noted that in recent general elections, it has taken about eight days for the state to report 95 percent of its votes, meaning the current margins could still shift before certification.
Vote totals were expected to continue coming in over the following days, followed by post-election canvassing. The 6th District covers parts of Pierce County — including Tacoma, Milton and Fife — along with the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas, according to the News Tribune. Voters there first elected Randall in 2024, when she succeeded long-time legislator Derek Kilmer after previously serving in the Washington State Senate.
Money and Endorsements Tell Different Stories
The two campaigns ran on starkly different financial footing. Randall raised just over $1 million between Jan. 1, 2025 and July 15, 2026, according to federal filings cited by the News Tribune, while Fox raised $20,100 between March 1 and July 15 — a different reporting window, with the rest of her funds coming from individual donors. Randall's endorsement list includes U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the National Education Association and the Washington State Labor Council, per the same account. Fox, meanwhile, built her campaign around the Washington State Republican Party and all six local Republican organizations across Pierce, Kitsap, Mason, Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbor counties.
Federal Dollars and Local Projects at Stake
The race unfolded as the Trump administration reevaluated domestic spending limits and cut funding for community projects, leaving districts like the 6th to decide how to target federal dollars for maritime upgrades, housing and rural roads. Randall has pointed to work helping secure $2 million to deepen Tacoma's Blair Waterway, a project meant to widen the turning basin so larger, heavier ships can enter without draft restrictions. She has also requested $12.85 million for four Pierce County projects in fiscal year 2027, including $7.65 million to replace the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge in Tacoma and $2.8 million for improvements to the Alberta J. Canada Apartments at 902 S. L Street, which house low-income elderly residents.
Fox has staked out her own funding priorities, saying she would push to send more federal dollars to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton if elected, along with pursuing lower taxes and fewer business regulations. On immigration, Randall opposed Tacoma's immigration facility during her first term and cited alleged human rights violations tied to the Trump administration's immigration focus, while Fox has expressed support for ICE officers and for people harmed by violent crime committed by undocumented immigrants.
Statewide Initiatives Loom Over the Race
Two statewide measures on the same ballot became flashpoints in the campaign. Initiative 638 would ban transgender girls from competing in girls' sports; supporters say the measure promotes athletic fairness and protects girls from sexual harassment or assault, while opponents call it discriminatory against vulnerable transgender teenagers. Fox argued that allowing transgender athletes to compete in female sports undermines Title IX protections, which she said are meant to give girls a fair playing field. Randall has called efforts behind the initiatives discriminatory toward transgender girls.
Initiative 1 would enact certain parental and guardian rights in public schools, including allowing parents to “renew” curriculum materials and student records, requiring notification about medical services offered to their child, and letting parents opt their kids out of academic activities involving sexuality, religion and mental health. Ballots on these measures, along with the congressional race, were being dropped at collection points across Pierce County, including a drop box in Tacoma on Tuesday.
The outcome carries weight beyond the district itself, since voters there are helping decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives. With tens of thousands of ballots still outstanding, the final margin — and the fate of the statewide initiatives on the same ticket — won't be clear until the state finishes its count in the coming days.
