1998Flipped from RepublicanFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1998 election for Washington Legislative District 45-2
Washington House of Representatives · Washington
Laura Ruderman (D) won with 50.9% of the vote, defeating Bill Backlund (R) by 1.8 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Laura RudermanDemocrat · winner
50.9%20,487
Bill BacklundRepublican · incumbent
49.1%19,761
40,248 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1998
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET