Voters on Tuesday brought the forthcoming general election into greater focus, setting final matchups for November in contests where three or more candidates had filed.
Although this year’s winnowing election did not take place statewide (voters in some jurisdictions had no contests or measures to decide), the returns from areas where there was an election yielded several surprises. In the race for King County Council District No. 6, voters opted for the oldest candidate — Republican Jane Hague, an incumbent who has served several terms — and the youngest candidate — Democrat Richard Mitchell, a first-time office seeker.
Hague was expected to make it through to the general election – incumbents are rarely ousted in a winnowing election – but it was unclear who her challenger would be, since two other candidates — Port Commissioner John Creighton and former Bellevue City Councilmember Patsy Bonincontri — were also on the ballot.
In early returns, Hague was managing nearly 40 percent of the vote. Sixty-one percent of residents who have sent back a ballot so far cast a vote for a different candidate. Most selected Mitchell or Creighton, who each received at least a quarter of votes cast. The remainder went to Bonincontri or a write-in candidate.
The runoff between Hague and Mitchell promises to be worth watching. Four years ago, Hague coasted to re-election against perennial candidate Richard Pope (who, incidentally, will be on the ballot again this November, running against Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton).
This time, she has a serious and credible opponent, who is rated “Outstanding” by the Municipal League and supported by The Seattle Times as well as the Democratic Party. Expect a vigorous campaign to be waged by both sides. Democrats feel strongly that this is a seat they can capture, and Republicans feel strongly that this is a seat they can defend.
While voters on the west side of the Eastside were sorting out the year’s most-watched county-level race, Seattleites were deciding whether to approve or reject Referendum 1, billed by the individuals and organizations that collected signatures to get it on the ballot as a chance to veto the deep bore tunnel the state wants to construct to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. To the surprise of Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and his supporters, voters in Seattle overwhelmingly blessed the tunnel, with nearly 60 percent voting “Approve”.
Almost everyone who belonged to the anti-tunnel camp has now acknowledged that the issue is settled, with the notable exception of Magnolia’s Elizabeth Campbell, arguably the greatest fan of the crumbling Alaskan Way Viaduct has ever had. (Curiously, Campbell doesn’t want to tear the viaduct down because she really loves driving on it. Never mind that it’s at risk of pancaking in an earthquake).
In another surprise, quite a few voters in Kirkland chose to register their unhappiness with incumbent Councilmember Bob Sternoff by throwing their support behind challenger Jason Gardiner (Sternoff was narrowly trailing Gardiner as of early returns). Gardiner is a resident of Kingsgate who served in the U.S. Navy during the 1990s. He is a network architect for Oracle, one of the world’s largest software companies.
The other Kirkland City Council incumbent facing more than one challenger, Dave Asher, was faring much better, with 51 percent of the vote. He will face James Hart in the general election.
Voters across King County also overwhelmingly approved renewing the Veteran & Human Services Levy. The measure was passing in a landslide, with 66 percent percent in support.
The lopsided margin demonstrates that voters are willing to tax themselves to pay for vital public services. They just want the assurance of knowing that their dollars will be carefully spent and wisely stewarded – which is an entirely reasonable expectation.
There will be far more measures on the ballot in November than there were this week.
There will be two contested Redmond City Council races, three statewide initiatives, along with two constitutional amendments and a number of local propositions in several jurisdictions.
Residents of King County will not, however, be asked to vote on an emergency measure to save Metro, thanks to King County Executive Dow Constantine, who brought Democrats and Republicans on the King County Council together to approve an agreement that raises vehicle fees to prevent destructive cuts to service. The agreement allows Metro planners to focus on improving quality of service rather than being forced to spend the autumn attempting to plan for an uncertain future.
November is now only two and a half months away. Now is a good time to begin evaluating candidates and measures – ballots for the general election will be in the mail before we know it.
Andrew Villeneuve, a 2005 Redmond High graduate, is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, a Redmond-based grassroots organization. Villeneuve can be reached at andrew@nwprogressive.org.
