Most of the public generally believes the state Legislature can probably do better.

However, most of the public also tends to believe their legislators are doing a good job. It’s those legislators from other areas that are the problem.

Therein rests the likely outcome for this year’s legislative races. When the votes are tabulated, most incumbents will probably be re-elected and the Democrats will retain comfortable margins in both the House and the Senate.

This is believed to be a Democratic year in the state, so don’t look for significant change. Some Republican candidates are leery enough that they have gone with the more subtle GOP (Grand Old Party) as their party preference on the ballot.

Also, the new top-two format is providing some interesting subplots.

This format allows two candidates from the same party to pass through to the general election – if they get more votes than a candidate from the opposing party. This format has emboldened some candidates to run who otherwise might not have run. So your general election ballot in November could have two Democrats or two Republicans for a particular seat.

Here are some of the more interesting races to watch:

• In the 47th District (Covington and Maple Valley area), the House seat occupied by Rep. Geoff Simpson (Democrat) appears to be in play. Simpson was in the news for an alleged altercation with his ex-wife.Though ultimately the charges were dropped, he attracted not only a Republican challenger, Mark Hargrove, but also another Democrat in Leslie Kae Hamada.

By contrast, Simpson’s seatmate, Rep. Pat Sullivan (Democrat), has one challenger and appears to be in good shape.

• Another district to watch might be the 31st District (Auburn and Enumclaw), which has an incumbent House member from each party. Rep. Dan Roach (Republican) is being challenged by Ron Weigelt (Democrat), and Rep. Chris Hurst (Democrat) has two Republican challengers – Josh Hulburt and Sharon Hanek.

• The new top two format may have affected the Senate race in District 11 (Renton), where incumbent Margarita Prentice (Democrat) has attracted two challengers from her own party, Scott McKay and Juan Martinez.

Will the voters favor incumbents? Will they favor a particular party?

And will this be a Democratic year, or is that just punditry?

These races might provide a clue. If others start to heat up, we’ll take a closer look at them.

Put this on the refrigerator and keep track in your area. These races won’t be boring.

Bob Roegner, a former mayor of Auburn and a former King County elections director, can be reached at bjroegner@comcast.net

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in the PNWLocalNews.com community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. So keep your comments:

• Civil
• Smart
• On-topic
• Free of profanity

We ask that all participants own their words by registering for an account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and drive-by commenters.

As a community site, we ask that the community help by using the "Flag" button on each comment if they feel the comment has violated the rules. You can also use the up and down arrows on each comment to voice your opinion about that particular comment.

Want to tell us something but you don't want it to be public? Talk to us privately.