Kitsap Democrats appeared to sweep to victory in county and state races Tuesday evening.

Early returns showed Bainbridge Democrat Christine Rolfes unseating North Kitsap incumbent Bev Woods in one 23rd District House race, while Poulsbo incumbent Sherry Appleton easily fended off a challenge by Bainbridge Republican Earl Johnson in the other.

In a closely watched contest between two political unknowns, Democrat Josh Brown was defeating Republican Jack Hamilton for a vacant seat on the Kitsap County Commission.

Unofficial final returns showed Rolfes with 56 percent of the vote against Woods, a two-term incumbent, and first-term incumbent Appleton earning 66 percent against Johnson with about 27,000 votes counted in each race.

Brown was leading Hamilton by a wide margin, carrying 59 percent countywide.

Mirroring statewide results, Kitsap voters overwhelmingly opposed initiatives to repeal the Washington estate tax and force local government to compensate property owners for new land use regulations.

Initiative 920, which would have repealed the estate tax and eliminated a state fund for public education, was opposed by 63 percent of Kitsap voters. I-933, the so-called “property fairness” initiative, was opposed by a like margin.

In federal races, 58 percent of Kitsap voters went with first-term incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell. The Democrat defeated Republican challenger Mike McGavick, a retired insurance executive, by a wide margin statewide.

Bainbridge Island Democrat Jay Inslee earned a fourth term in the U.S. House, besting challenger Larry Ishmael with 68 percent support.

In the only local ballot measure, Bainbridge voters overwhelmingly backed expanding the local fire board from three members to five, giving the proposition 73 percent support.