A tsunami swell is coming. With your help, in 2018 a lot of Republicans are going to be swept out of office by fired up Democrats like you and me.

In the coming months, news feeds will be full of important races for US House and US Senate. But there's a big change story happening here in Washington State also. State House and State Senate races will determine funding for our schools and whether we pass strong gun safety and clean energy bills. These races for the state legislature matter. A lot.

How can you follow these races? That's how Friends of Washington will help. We'll send you monthly updates about the most important Washington State races which will make a difference.

You might be saying, "Wait, didn't we win control of the legislature last year?" Indeed! We flipped the State Senate by electing Manka Dhingra in a special election. But we'll need to expand our new one-seat margin in the State Senate and our two-seat margin in the State House to really be able to pass great bills.

So eyes are on November 2018. Friends of Washington will help you track the most important flippable seats across the state and help make Washington the deepest blue you know it can be. By actively supporting these top state races, together we can win big.

Early support, directly to state candidates, in flippable districts, regardless of where you live, will make the difference. Friends of Washington will give you actionable info to pick key races across Washington State, to make a strategic difference, so we can get progressive laws passed in our state. 

What else can you do right now? Recommend www.friendsofwashington.org to your friends. Forward this email to them. Post about us on Facebook, especially to any political groups you belong to. By getting more of us signed up for these updates we can make 2018 a year of sweeping change like we've never seen before.

See below for additional details on the lay of the land for the WA state legislature races in this coming, momentous year.

Sincerely yours,

Your friends at Friends of Washington

Early Lay of the Land of the Key State Races in 2018

The Wash State Senate   

• Has 49 seats total (1 per district.) Half the seats are up for reelection every 2 year (4-year terms)
• The goal in 2018 is to flip more R seats, to improve the 25-24 advantage Dems currently have.
• Of the 13 Dem seats up for reelection, all 13 are in Districts which were won by Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray in 2016.
• Of the 12 Rep seats up for reelection: 7 of 12 were won by Murray, and 4 of 12 were won by Clinton in 2016. So in 2018 a big wave of flipped seats R to D is very doable.

State Senate seats most likely to flip

1. Flip opportunity from R to D   LD#42

• LD#42 is the NW corner of the state (Bellingham, Blaine, Lynden, Ferndale)
• LD#42 went 48% for Clinton (still more than Trump) and 53% for Murray in 2016
• The Republican incumbent is Doug Erickson (climate denier, very close to Trump.)
• Democrat challenger is Pinky Vargas (a member of the Bellingham City Council) www.votepinkyvargas.com

2. Flip opportunity from R to D   LD#30

• LD#30 is just north of Tacoma (Federal Way plus parts of Des Moines and Auburn)
• LD#30 went 57% for Clinton and 61% for Murray in 2016
• The Republican incumbent is Mark Miloscia (very anti-choice and anti-gay rights.)

3. Flip opportunity from R to D   LD#47

• LD#47 is just south of Renton/Kent (Covington, Auburn)
• LD#47 went 54% for Clinton and 58% for Murray in 2016
• The Republican incumbent is Joe Fain.

The Wash State House 

• Has 98 seats (2 per district) – all are up for reelection every 2 years (2-year terms)
• Dems now have a slim 2-seat majority (50-48) in the State House
• At least two R seats are looking extremely flippable right now.
• Stay tuned! More info coming soon about these races.
• Invite friends to sign up now with Friends of Washington.
• The more people who get our monthly updates the greater their power.
• Together we will win.