Left-wing House candidate Sarah Smith advances to general election in Washington state

Washington state political newcomer Sarah Smith, a 30-year-old progressive who has shared many of the left-wing views of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, was projected Monday to advance to the general election in her bid for Congress.

As a result, voters in Washington’s 9th congressional district will have to choose between a Democrat named Smith and a Republican named Smith — 11-term incumbent Adam Smith — in November’s general election.

The Associated Press called the second general election spot for Sarah Smith six days after the polls closed and thousands of mail votes were counted. According to the Washington Secretary of State’s office, Sarah Smith led Republican Doug Basler by 2,886 votes Monday evening. Both contenders finished well behind Adam Smith, who garnered 48.5 percent of the 144,973 votes cast.

“We have an uphill battle in front of us, but we have the will, the drive, and the people behind us,” Sarah Smith tweeted Saturday. “Let’s do this.”

Sarah Smith was recruited to run by Brand New Congress, the same group that backed Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s Democratic primary this summer. Smith, who like Ocasio-Cortez was drawn to politics by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, has welcomed the comparison — at one point telling Reddit users that she was running for Congress “on the same slate as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

Sarah Smith’s platform espouses single-payer health care and free public college, views shared by the incumbent Rep. Adam Smith. She has also rejected corporate donations, calling them “legally protected bribery,” and reportedly has raised about $47,000 for her campaign — almost all of it from small, out-of-state donors.

By contrast, Adam Smith has raised approximately $600,000 and has expressed confidence the residents of the 9th district will return him to Congress for a 12th term.

“Queens is not SeaTac or Seattle, I am not Joe Crowley, and Sarah Smith is not Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Adam Smith told the Seattle Times last month. “You’ve got one candidate who’s trying to hitch her star to some sort of national platform, you’ve got another one who’s actually committed to the people that I want to represent.”

Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.