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Did President Trump give Democrat Kim Schrier a boost in the 8th?

caption: 8th District candidate Kim Schrier celebrates on stage with her son, Sam, on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, at the Hilton in Bellevue.
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8th District candidate Kim Schrier celebrates on stage with her son, Sam, on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, at the Hilton in Bellevue.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

Democrats took back the U.S. House on Election Night, and one of the big prizes was in Washington state -- the 8th Congressional District.

Reporter David Hyde joined KUOW’s Angela King to parse the results.

King: Democrats had never won this seat. What happened this time?

Hyde: This district has voted for Republicans forever – literally. But Republican Dave Reichert announced he wouldn't seek another term, leaving the seat open.

This morning [Wednesday], Dr. Kim Schrier leads Republican Dino Rossi by about six percentage points.

Remember this is the most expensive House race in state history: around $28 million between both campaigns and outside money.

The polling leading up to this was all over the place. We had that one poll from a few weeks ago, the only local one, having Rossi up by 10. The New York Times had Schrier up by three. So clearly the Schrier campaign likes where they are after this first round of votes.

Let's dig into the results a little bit. Where did the candidates do well?

There are five counties within the 8th, and Dino Rossi carried four of them. But really it's all about King County. That's where the population is. And here the turnout for Schrier was huge: 58 percent.

And that has her waking up with a substantial lead this morning. There are still some ballots left to count, but most will be here in King County. We’ll learn more after the next ballot drop later today.

So how are Republicans feeling about last night's results?

Maybe putting on a brave face. This is a split suburban-rural district – Republicans have won here for 35 years. So this result has some Republicans doing some soul searching.

Joe Pratt, chair of the 11th Legislative District Republicans, talked about going back to the drawing board.

He told KUOW’s Amy Radil: 'More affluent suburbs used to be dominated by Republicans, and they're turning away from the party now. That could be a function of President Trump.'

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