Six days after the primary election, vote-counting continues. After today’s count, here’s where things stand:

SEATTLE MAYOR – Still former City Councilmember Bruce Harrell and current City Council President Lorena González advancing to the general election, but they’re a lot closer than they were in the first count – Harrell now has 34.1%, González 32.1%. He was almost 10 points ahead on Election night.

SEATTLE CITY ATTORNEY – Incumbent Pete Holmes conceded Friday, and today’s count had no reason for him to rethink that. Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, who wants to end prosecution of misdemeanors (those are the crimes that go through the City Attorney’s Office, not felonies) leads with 36.3%, while private attorney Ann Davison is at 32.7%; Holmes has 30.7%.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 8 – Incumbent Teresa Mosqueda is up to 59.4%, while her apparent challenger in November will be Kenneth Wilson (16.2%), a bridge engineer who believes the West Seattle Bridge could be partly reopened immediately.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 9 – Community organizer/cultural worker/artist/attorney Nikkita Oliver is now in the lead over brewery owner Sara Nelson, 40.15% to 39.52%; Nelson led by seven points on Election Night.

KING COUNTY EXECUTIVE – Incumbent Dow Constantine is now just under 20% ahead of State Sen. Joe Nguyen, 51.9% to 32.4%; it was a 23-point lead on Election Night.

WHAT’S NEXT – Once-per-weekday results updates continue until the election is certified a week from tomorrow (Tuesday, August 17th)

The third round of results from the August 3rd primary is now out. Of the five races and one ballot measure that comprised West Seattle ballots, there’s only one major change: Incumbent city attorney Pete Holmes is now in third place with 32%, behind Ann Davison at 34.5% and Nicole Thomas-Kennedy at 33.1%. The count represents 27 percent of all Seattle ballots sent out; that’s just under two-thirds of all Seattle ballots received so far. Next update, tomorrow afternoon.

No changes of note in the second round of primary-election results, announced this afternoon. All local races still have the same two leaders as last night. Here are the full results from King County Elections, which has counted ballots from 19 percent of King County voters, 21 percent of Seattle voters, so far, and will continue daily counts until the election is certified:

MAYOR

Bruce Harrell – 39,173 – 38.02%
M. Lorena González – 29,467 – 28.60%
Colleen Echohawk – 8,872 – 8.61%
Jessyn Farrell – 7,752 – 7.52%
Arthur K. Langlie – 6,120 – 5.94%
Casey Sixkiller – 3,678 – 3.57%
Andrew Grant Houston – 2,570 – 2.49%
James Donaldson – 1,679 – 1.63%
Lance Randall – 1,525 – 1.48%
Clinton Bliss – 928 – 0.90%
Bobby Tucker – 244 – 0.24%
Omari Tahir-Garrett – 233 – 0.23%
Stan Lippmann – 220 – 0.21%
Henry C. Dennison – 213 – 0.21%
Don L. Rivers – 123 – 0.12%

CITY ATTORNEY

Ann Davison – 34,523 – 34.92%
Pete Holmes – 32,285 – 32.66%
Nicole Thomas-Kennedy – 31,734 – 32.10%

CITY COUNCIL POSITION 8

Teresa Mosqueda – 52,862 – 54.99%
Kenneth Wilson – 17,485 – 18.19%
Kate Martin – 12,018 – 12.50%
Paul Felipe Glumaz – 5,495 – 5.72%
Alexander White – 1,482 – 1.54%
Bobby Lindsey Miller – 1,245 – 1.30%
Jesse James – 1,225 – 1.27%
George Freeman – 1,036 – 1.08%
Jordan Elizabeth Fisher – 1,002 – 1.04%
Alex Tsimerman – 613 – 0.64%
Brian Fahey – 530 – 0.55%

CITY COUNCIL POSITION 9

Sara Nelson – 42,841 – 42.78%
Nikkita Oliver – 35,082 – 35.03%
Brianna K. Thomas – 14,127 – 14.11%
Corey Eichner – 4,066 – 4.06%
Lindsay McHaffie – 1,767 – 1.76%
Rebecca L. Williamson – 1,053 – 1.05%
Xtian Gunther – 818 – 0.82%

COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Dow Constantine – 141,289 – 53.64%
Joe Nguyen – 78,173 – 29.68%
Bill Hirt – 30,528 – 11.59%
Goodspaceguy – 7,801 – 2.96%
Johnathon Crines – 4,314 – 1.64 %

COUNTY PROP 1 (“BEST STARTS FOR KIDS”)

Approved – 157,953 – 59.28%
Rejected – 108,521 – 40.72%

County Executive Dow Constantine was the main champion of the measure, so we asked him about it during our interview last night in Georgetown:

As of the 6 pm check tonight, 32 percent of King County ballots had been received; 39 percent of Seattle ballots are in.

Four City of Seattle races on the primary ballot – here are the first results (next count not due out until tomorrow):

Mayor – Bruce Harrell with 38 percent, Lorena González with 29 percent

City Council Position 8 – Teresa Mosqueda with 55 percent, Kenneth Wilson with 18 percent

City Council Position 9 – Sara Nelson with 42 percent, Nikkita Oliver with 35 percent

City Attorney – Ann Davison with 35 percent, Pete Holmes with 33 percent, Nicole Thomas-Kennedy with 32 percent

We’ll flesh out the full list of numbers in a bit but in the meantime (update – screengrabs added), check this link for full results.

8:09 PM: In the King County Executive race, the primary will narrow a field of five candidates to two. The leaders are two West Seattle residents – three-term incumbent Executive Dow Constantine with 53 percent and first-term State Sen. Joe Nguyen with 30 percent. Here are the first results (next count not due out until tomorrow):

Dow Constantine – 124,302 – 53.49%
Joe Nguyen – 68,986 – 29.69 %
Bill Hirt – 27,050 – 11.64%
Goodspaceguy – 6,889 – 2.96%
Johnathon Crines – 3,861 – 1.66%

We talked tonight with both Constantine and Nguyen and will add those clips when they’re uploaded.

11:09 PM: Constantine, who spent election night at the “Best Starts for Kids” victory party in Georgetown, expects a “fun” campaign:

Nguyen, who gathered with supporters in White Center, insists it’s time for change:

Datapoints from past elections: The first time Constantine ran for KC Executive, in 2009, he was second in the primary; Nguyen’s run for State Senate in 2018 was his first bid for elective office, and he led after the primary as well as the general. Another datapoint: Constantine held the same State Senate seat Nguyen now holds, for about a year at the turn of the millennium, before moving to the King County Council, shere he served before becoming executive.

That’s the King County Elections ballot dropbox at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), easy to ride/walk/drive up to, one of three dropboxes in West Seattle (here’s the countywide map, which also includes one in White Center and one in South Park). Dropboxes are open until exactly 8 pm tomorrow for your primary-election ballot; if you decide to send yours via US Mail, please do that early in the day rather than late so it will definitely get postmarked. As of this evening, KCE says Seattle is up to 17.3 percent turnout (ballots returned). Reminder, the ballot has six decisions for you to make – two city races without incumbents (mayor and City Council Position 9), two city races with incumbents (city attorney and Council Position 8), one county race (Executive), and one county ballot measure (“Best Starts for Kids” renewal/expansion). First round of results will be out around 8:15 pm tomorrow.

Only two days left to vote in the primary election, but very few ballots are in. As of this afternoon, only 13.4 percent of Seattle ballots had been returned to King County Elections; that’s just a hair below the countywide percentage, 13.5 percent. Just six decisions to make on your ballot – two city races without incumbents (mayor and City Council Position 9), two city races with incumbents (city attorney and Council Position 8), one county race (Executive), and one county ballot measure (“Best Starts for Kids” renewal/expansion). Still not sure about the mayor’s race, in which a field of 15 will be narrowed to two? Watch the one and only in-person West Seattle forum (presented by us and the Junction Association three weeks ago) here with 9 of the candidates, and/or check out the Seattle Channel’s Video Voters Guide (for mayor and the other city races) here. If you’re going to mail your ballot (no stamp needed), do that by tomorrow so you can be sure it’ll be postmarked in time; if you’re going to use a dropbox (three in West Seattle!), get it in by 8 pm Tuesday. First round of results is expected by 8:15 that night.

Once the primary-election ballots are counted after next Tuesday night’s voting deadline, the spotlight turns to November, and one city ballot measure will likely dominate the discussion: Seattle Charter Amendment 29. It attempts to codify particular policies for dealing with homelessness, Just announced by the 34th District Democrats – their August meeting will be preceded by an informational forum with reps from both sides. Supporters call their compaign Compassion Seattle, opponents call theirs House Our Neighbors, and participants from both will be part of the online event, open to all, 6-6:45 pm Wednesday, August 11th. You can register here to get the viewing link. The 34th DDs’ regular August meeting will start afterward, at 7 pm (same link if you plan to stay), and they may take an endorsement vote during the meeting,

(WSB photo – West Seattle Junction ballot dropbox)

If your ballot is still waiting to be marked and taken to a dropbox or mailbox – you have just five more days. Next Tuesday, August 3rd, is the deadline – 8 pm for dropboxes (3 in West Seattle), or early enough for mailboxes to be sure it’ll be postmarked that day. It’s not a long ballot – though some of the offices on it have long lists of candidates – 15 for Seattle Mayor (9 were at the West Seattle forum we moderated), 11 for citywide City Council Position 8, 7 for citywide City Council Position 9, 5 for King County Executive, 3 for Seattle City Attorney, and one ballot measure (King County Prop 1, “Best Starts for Kids”). That’s it for your primary ballot. Lost yours? Here’s how to get a replacement. Need to vote accessibly? Here’s how. Need to register? You can still do that in person up till Tuesday. Voted days ago? Track your ballot here.

King County Elections projects only a 40 percent turnout for the August 3rd election. That, despite a ballot including Seattle Mayor, two citywide City Council positions, City Attorney, County Executive, and a major levy. You can prove them wrong – get your ballot in! If you didn’t get your ballot yet but are registered, request a replacement here, or call 206-296-VOTE. If you didn’t get a ballot because you’re NOT registered, Monday is the deadline for registering online or by mail. After that, you can still register in person, but you have to go to King County Elections’ Renton HQ or a Vote Center.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Ballots are arriving. The biggest battle in the primary: Seattle mayor, 15 candidates, no incumbent,

Last Saturday, WSB and the West Seattle Junction Association co-presented the primary’s only mayoral-candidate forum in West Seattle (WSB coverage here, including video), touching on a wide range of peninsula-relevant issues. If you’re still making up your mind, another forum four days later focused on neighborhood issues including development. Wednesday’s online forum presented by Seattle Fair Growth – with co-sponsors including the Morgan Community Association – featured six candidates for all or part of it – Colleen Echohawk, Andrew Grant Houston, Arthur Langlie, Lance Randall for the entirety of the forum, Bruce Harrell departing early, Jessyn Farrell arriving late. Lorena González was invited, organizers said, but couldn’t participate.

You can watch it in its entirety here. We watched it as it happens, and our notes are below. As usual in our coverage, they are paraphrases/summaries except for whatever is between quotation marks:

Read More

(WSB photo. From left – Lorena González, James Donaldson, Jessyn Farrell, Colleen Echohawk, Andrew Grant Houston, WSJA executive director Lora Radford, Lance Randall, Bruce Harrell, Casey Sixkiller, Don Rivers)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When nine of the 15 candidates for Seattle mayor sat side by side for an hour and a half at noontime Saturday, it wasn’t just the only pre-primary forum devoted to West Seattleites’ questions – it was also their first in-person forum of the campaign. With days to go until voting starts, they had appeared in dozens of forums, but all online.

So though the questions were serious, it was almost a festive atmosphere, unlike the more-typical mood by the time campaigning gets down to the wire.

Bruce Harrell joked that he wore shorts in the Zoom-call spirit. Lance Randall handed out custom-labeled mini-bottles of hand sanitizer. Casey Sixkiller and Jessyn Farrell asked to borrow scratch paper, confessing they were out of practice for toting supplies to in-person events.

Along with those four, the forum at the Senior Center of West Seattle featured James Donaldson, Colleen Echohawk, Lorena González, Andrew Grant Houston, and Don Rivers. WSB co-presented it with the West Seattle Junction Association, which streamed it live on Instagram’s IGTV while we streamed to YouTube. Our videographer for the occasion, Edgar Riebe of West Seattle-based Captive Eye Media, also recorded it, and here’s the video, followed by our summary:

Read More

12:08 PM: This year, Seattle elects a new mayor – Jenny Durkan decided not to run for re-election. Ballots for the August 3rd primary go out in a few days; you’ll have 15 mayoral candidates to choose from. WSB and the West Seattle Junction Association invited them all to participate in the first and only forum devoted to questions from West Seattleites – most were suggested by WSB readers – and it’s happening now at the Senior Center of West Seattle. You should see the stream embedded above; if anything goes awry, check the WSB YouTube channel or the WSJA Instagram IGTV feed; it’s also being recorded for later viewing.

1:38 PM: Forum’s over; we have removed the stream window above and replaced it with a photo. We will be uploading the recorded video in its entirety later, as well as adding notes. We had one no-show, so nine candidates participated:

James Donaldson
Colleen Echohawk
Jessyn Farrell
Lorena González
Bruce Harrell
Andrew Grant Houston
Lance Randall
Don Rivers
Casey Sixkiller

This, it turns out, was their first in-person forum.

4:16 PM: The lower-res YouTube stream is now archived – pull ahead to 5:40 for the start of the forum:

We’ll have a higher-res version with the story later, but if you don’t want to wait, watch it now!

Four years ago, 21 candidates ran for Seattle mayor, and we moderated a forum to which 15 RSVP’d. This year, 15 candidates are in the race, and 10 have RSVP’d for the forum we’re co-presenting Saturday with the West Seattle Junction Association. It starts at noon, with the candidates side by side at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). Thanks to everyone who’s suggested questions – we’ll see how many we can get through with 10 candidates in an hour and a half. Our calendar listing has the lineup of participants and how to watch.

Three days until the WSB/West Seattle Junction Association forum with nine of the 15 candidates for Seattle mayor. It’s happening Saturday (July 10th) at noon, an in-person event at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). Questions will be asked by your WSB co-publishers, and this is your last call to suggest one. Thanks to everyone who’s made suggestions already – we want to stress that the focus here is West Seattle issues; certainly the city’s biggest overall issues affect the peninsula too, but the candidates have had dozens of chances already to answer general questions, and this is the first chance to run everything through a WS-specific lens. Email questions to westseattleblog@gmail.com. As for seeing and hearing the candidates’ answers, the forum will be streamed on multiple channels, including here on WSB and WSJA’s social-media channels. About 20 seats are available for vaccinated attendees, first-come first-served – doors will open at 11:30 am and close around 11:50.

Next week, the ballots go out and the voting begins for the August 3rd primary – including 15 candidates seeking to succeed Jenny Durkan as Seattle mayor. Dozens of organizations have hosted candidate forums on a variety of topics. This Saturday (July 10th) at noon, WSB and the West Seattle Junction Association will present the only pre-primary forum devoted entirely to West Seattle matters. We invited all 15 candidates; 9 accepted. We have roughed out a list of potential questions but are curious what’s on YOUR mind, so if you have a question to suggest – please email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com. The forum is an in-person event at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon); it’ll be streamed on multiple channels, including here on WSB, and we’ll also have a limited number of seats for those interested in being there – stand by for details on that in an update tomorrow.

“We know this crisis is not inevitable.”

That’s how the Alliance for Gun Responsibility‘s executive director Renée Hopkins opened a forum this past week with five mayoral candidates. The Alliance presented it along with Grandmothers Against Gun Violence and the South Seattle Emerald, whose publisher Marcus Harrison Green served as moderator. Though the forum had been scheduled for a while, it happened the day after four people were shot at Alki, one fatally, and during a citywide wave of gunfire incidents.

Participating candidates, in alphabetical surname order, were Colleen Echohawk, Jessyn Farrell, Lorena González, Bruce Harrell, and Andrew Grant Houston. The five qualified by participating in the Alliance’s endorsement process and having at least 1,000 donors, Hopkins said during introductions.

The questioning included full-length answers as well as lightning-round yes/no questions. Opening statements were requested to include the answer to: “If you could wave a magic wand and do one thing to end the gun-violence epidemic, what would it be?” Here’s how the candidates responded: (Note that in all responses in this report, only quotation marks signify an exact quote – otherwise it’s our summarizing/paraphrasing.)

Read More

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

With 5 weeks to go until primary voting begins, our area’s biggest political organization – the 34th District Democrats – met online last night to make their endorsements. It took almost five hours, even with a decision late in the evening to delay one set of endorsements until next month.

Toward the meeting’s start, chair Carla Rogers acknowledged the event had brought a boost in membership (only those who were members by last month’s meeting could vote), surmising that was mostly because of the King County Executive race. Membership was announced at 548, and the onscreen counter showed attendance last night peaking at close to 400. At the start of the night, group leaders gave a pitch on staying engaged even after the vote.

A few notes first: The 34th legislative district includes West Seattle, White Center, Vashon/Maury Islands, and part of Burien. The group requires candidates to identify themselves as Democrats to be eligible for endorsement nominations, even for nonpartisan positions. To win endorsement, 60 percent support was required; if nobody got that on the first ballot, the top two votegetters went to a second ballot, and if neither got 60 percent, the remaining options were dual endorsement or no endorsement (the latter happened in one big race). There were up to four speeches for each candidate nominated – potentially two in favor (including the candidates themselves if the original nominator gave them the floor), two against.

Rogers said the meeting recording will be posted online within a few days. We watched it all in real time, 6:30 pm until almost 11:30; here are our toplines:

Read More

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

8 of the 15 candidates for Seattle mayor participated today in the campaign season’s first forum presented by a West Seattle-based organization.

The 34th District Democrats‘ forum happened online four days before our area’s biggest political organization meets Wednesday to decide who it’s endorsing in this and other key local races.

The 34th DDs’ chair Carla Rogers hosted; moderators were Rachel Glass and Chris Porter; timer was Ann Martin. Rogers said all 15 candidates were invited; 9 accepted, 8 showed up – Colleen Echohawk, Jessyn Farrell, Lorena González, Bruce Harrell, Andrew Grant Houston, Lance Randall, Don Rivers, and Casey Sixkiller. (If you’re just catching up, there’s no incumbent in the race – Jenny Durkan decided one term was enough.)

The questions and answers did not at any point get deeply West Seattle-specific. There were a few mentions of the closed bridge – Harrell scored local points there by briefly noting that the issue of accountability for its damage has yet to be settled – and González noted that she was the only West Seattleite there; Sixkiller said he had recently visited the West Seattle Farmers’ Market and local businesses. Answers to most of the questions by most of the candidates leaned more heavily on self-descriptive information – their background, their family status and/or history – than on concrete policy plans, with a few notable exceptions.

If you’re interested in the race, we highly recommend watching the video. If you don’t have the time, below are our notes – brief paraphrases or select quotes from each answer, following a transcription of each question as posted in the on-screen chat window by Rogers. First, each candidate got up to a minute and a half for an opening statement:

Read More

Got a question for your state legislators after the just-completed session that resulted in monumental legislation, from the capital-gains tax to climate action? Your next chance to hear from/talk with them is Thursday night, when the West Seattle Democratic Women host Sen. Joe Nguyen, Rep. Eileen Cody, and Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon at their monthly meeting. It starts at 6 pm online, and if you’re interested in attending, RSVP by tonight to WSDW chair Mary Fisher at maryfisher1@comcast.net to get the attendance info.