Jayapal takes big lead in battle for Jim McDermott's U.S. House seat

State Sen. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, takes big lead in race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott. . State Sen. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, takes big lead in race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott. . Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 59 Caption Close Jayapal takes big lead in battle for Jim McDermott's U.S. House seat 1 / 59 Back to Gallery

State Sen. Pramila Jayapal took a commanding lead Tuesday night in the primary election phase of the battle to succeed Seattle's retiring "Congressman for Life" Jim McDermott.

Jayapal had more than 38 percent of the total vote. Her top opponents, King County Council President Joe McDermott and state Rep. Brady Walkinshaw, were virtually tied for the other spot on the "top two" November ballot.

"I am so excited that the ideas of this campaign resonated across the district: This (vote) is far greater than we expected," said Jayapal. She fielded 1,000 volunteers in a campaign that rang 60,000 doorbells.

Jayapal is an immigrant from India who has become a national voice for immigrant rights, with a quarter-century record of high-profile activism. She organized the post-9/11 "Hate Free Zone" Seattle campaign and later OneAmerica, the effective immigrant-rights group. She delivered an important endorsement to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray in 2013.

She was an early endorser of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, blowing his horn -- and hers -- as a warmup act at Seattle rallies. In turn, Sanders raised money for Jayapal. "We had $170,000 come in within 48 hours (of Sanders appeal)," Jayapal added.

With Bernie's help, and backing from wealthy Indo-Americans, she put together a $1.4 million campaign war chest, and aired blunt, edgy TV spots..

Jayapal is impatient. She does not live in the 7th Congressional District, but rather the 9th. She decided not to wait for the retirement of U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, but jumped into the race to succeed Jim McDermott.

Jayapal won national backing -- feminist Gloria Steinem sent her a $1,000 check -- and endorsements from 10 of Congress' most liberal members. Ex-Gov. Gary Locke, back in Seattle after serving as U.S. ambassador to China, delivered a key endorsement.

Jayapal has shown skill at sounding radical but acting practical.

She worked on an immigration reform package that passed the U.S. Senate with 68 votes in 2013. She spent much of the last legislative session trying to persuade state Senate Republicans to pass the Washington Voting Rights Act, providing for negotiated solutions -- rather than protracted court battles -- in minority representation actions.

Walkinshaw was challenging Jim McDermott even before he called it a career.

The young Seattle lawmaker garnered support in the LGBT community, and among environmentalists for his intensity on the issue of climate change. Walkinshaw is an unabashed policy wonk, who has promised to use Seattle progressive politics as a model for the nation.

Joe McDermott is a former state legislator and King County councilman. He drew support from such figures as King County Executive Dow Constantine and state Senate Democratic leader Sharon Nelson.

McDermott has concentrated on two issues -- overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates to uncontrolled campaign spending -- and gun safety legislation.

McDermott is blessed with two major assets -- the same last name as the retiring incumbent and a big political base in West Seattle.

CORRECTION: Cutlines in an earlier version of this article misidentified the office sought by Jayapal, McDermott, Walkinshaw and others. They seek to replace Jim McDermott as the representative for the 7th Congressional District of Washington.