Deceased Candidate Leading Washington State House Race

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A candidate who died days before Tuesday’s election is leading his race.

Democrat state Rep. Roger Freeman died last Wednesday after battling cancer, but voters in the 30th district are voting for him. Early results show Freeman is taking 53 percent of the vote in the district that covers parts of southern King County and smaller areas of northern Pierce County.

Freeman had been diagnosed with colon cancer early last year but had been optimistic he would be able to serve a second term. Freeman was elected to his first term in the Legislature in 2012.

If Freeman is elected posthumously, the King County and Pierce County councils would jointly choose a Democrat from nominees picked by Democratic Party activists to serve for one year. Voters would then elect someone next year to serve the second half of the two-year term.

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