It'll be a while before Tuesday's election is officially in the books, but it's becoming clear that it'll likely be politics as usual around here for the new few years ― and that's not necessarily so bad.
It could've been much worse.
Nationally, the "red tide" Republicans had predicted turned out to be more of a pink mist. And despite Democrats' dire warnings, democracy has lived to fight another day.
Still, Central Washington voters ― who again turned out in disappointingly meager numbers ― wanted no part of putting Democrats in office. As they have for years, Republicans will remain in full control of the 4th Congressional District, the 14th and 15th legislative districts, the Yakima County Commission and every other local partisan office we can think of.
Meantime, Democrats will still run the state Senate and House. They might even gain a few seats once the votes are all tabulated.
Like we said, look for politics as usual for the next few years.
Which means the success of local elected officials will continue to hinge on their ability to work and play well with others in Olympia. They'll need to be artful negotiators, graceful diplomats ― yet protective of their principles.
The good news is that all of the candidates we spoke with for this fall's Editorial Board endorsements expressed a willingness to reach across the aisle. Some, including incumbent District 14 state Reps. Gina Mosbrucker and Chris Corry, have already demonstrated that they're capable of earnest compromise and collaboration in order to achieve tangible results for their constituents.
That's a skill that's useful for county officials, too. And we hope all three Yakima County commissioners who'll be seated in January will keep it in mind, especially as they interact with state officials on critical local issues in the coming years.
We'll leave it to the pundits to ponder the lasting lessons of this election, but we think one of the most important is that extremism won't get us anywhere. Just as local lawmakers have shown the value of bipartisan problem-solving, perhaps voters are seeing the futility of following wannabe warlords into an apocalyptic era where political ends are achieved through lies ― or even violence.
Peacefully navigating a red/blue balance sounds much more productive.
So with that, we offer our congratulations to this year's winners ― we wish them the best of luck in representing us.
They've earned our united support. And they'll need it.
This article was published in the Yakima Herald-Republic and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
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