5th Congressional District Democratic Candidate Forum RESULTS:

Scoring system

Votes were weighted by rank: 1st choice = 4 points, 2nd choice = 3 points, 3rd choice = 2 points, 4th choice = 1 point. Results are reported across four groups: All Votes (combined), Ranked Only (in-person ranked-choice, excluding single-choice voters), Online Only, and Single-Choice (voters who selected only one candidate). If you missed the event, a recording can be found on our Youtube Channel HERE.

Key insights

David wins overall — but with an asterisk. David earned 555 weighted points overall and 35 of 48 single-choice votes. However, the forum was held in his hometown of Walla Walla. Attendees likely had a stronger familiarity with him than with the three Spokane-area candidates.

Kevin's online strength is striking. Kevin ranked last overall but 1st among online voters (102 pts). This suggests his support base is heavily concentrated online, possibly reflecting a younger or more digitally active constituency from the Spokane area. However, the actual composition of online audience is unknown.

Carmela is a strong compromise candidate. Despite modest single-choice support (6 votes), Carmela climbs to 2nd in ranked voting (297 pts). Many voters who didn't pick her first still ranked her 2nd or 3rd — a sign of broad acceptability.

Bajun is the most consistent performer. Bajun places 2nd or 3rd across every single voting group. He is often not the top choice, but never the bottom either — indicating steady, reliable support across all voter types.

A different venue or a follow-up Spokane forum might yield meaningfully different in-person results.

48 voters selected only one candidate. David received 35 of those votes (73%). This likely reflects strong local name recognition given the Walla Walla venue.

Percentage of total weighted points earned by each candidate in each voting channel.

Notable: Kevin ranks 1st in online voting (102 pts) despite finishing last overall. This reversal is significant and may reflect a different demographic participating online.