Tag Archives: King County Executive

King County Election Results – Tuesday Evening

Posted on August 19th, 2009 | Comments Off on King County Election Results – Tuesday Evening

King County Elections posted at 9:52 PM the last results for today of ballots that were received through Tuesday in the mail and in person polling today at its three locations. The next results will be at 4:30 PM on Wednesday.

It is going to be a bad night for Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle as he currently is in third and is closely trailing two challengers Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan. Polls leading up to the election today that showed his support was very low coming into Election Day were obviously fairly accurate in saying he was in trouble.

Here are the early numbers:

Mike McGinn 16,891 26.56%

Joe Mallahan 16,376 25.81%

Greg Nickels 15,921 25.05%

This was an all mail in ballot and being an August Primary the turnout is very low so far. This could change if a lot of people waited until today to turn in ballots in the mail. Tomorrow’s numbers will be more decisive. King 5 TV tonight thought that maybe only 50% of the potential ballots were in so far and counted.

The current mailed in ballots only comprise 17.37% of registered Seattle voters. (Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 65,942 / 379,721 17.37%)

The King County Executives race in November is going to be between Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchinson. Hutchinson was the only “Republican” candidate in the race and got 37.4% of the vote Dow Constantine one of 4 Democrats running got 22.38% of the vote.

Court of Appeals Judge Anne L Ellington is easily winning with 74.16% of the vote.

Port Commission Position 3 saw Rob Holland at 50.93% and David Doud at 33.10%.

Port Commission Position 4 saw Tom Albo at 38.72%. Second was Max Vekich at 26.75% and Robert Wilkes at 24,70%. This race could still see some changes and is too close to call for second.

Seattle School Board members are elected by District. The top 2 candidates in the Primary then run citywide in November. in Position #5 incumbent Mary Bass received 38.51% of the vote with challenger Kay Smith Blum at 38.03%. In Position #7 Betty Patu received 46.31% and Wilson Chin 41.31%.

In Seattle City Council Position 4 Sally Bagshaw received 49.99% to David Bloom’s 18.2%.

In Seattle City Council Position 6 incumbent Nick Licata polled 52.82% to Jessie Israel’s 29.99%.

In Seattle City Council Position 8 Mike O’Brien received 35.58% to Robert Rosencrantz’s 19.38%

Voters voted down Referendum 1 on bag fees by 58.09% to 41.91%

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Hutchison’s Republican Media Consultant

Posted on July 21st, 2009 | Comments Off on Hutchison’s Republican Media Consultant

Susan Hutchison, running for King County Executive, claims she is nonpartisan.

Hutchison’s media firm, however, is the opposite of nonpartisan . A Google on Dresner, Wickers & Associates is unambiguous. “Dresner, Wickers & Associates is the go–to political consulting firm for Republican candidates, ballot initiatives, and major trade organizations.”

Their campaign work according to their website includes “strategic communication, media production and placement, polling and focus groups, DWA is a full–service agency”

A look at their present and past clients confirms their Republican credentials. Highlighted as “current” clients are:

Presidential Candidate and former Governor Mike Huckabee, Arkansas
US Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota.

They claim as a current issues advocacy client the Building Industry Association of Washington.

Their international list of clients includes Vladmir Putin of Russia.

As past clients listed they include:

Attorney General Ken Eickenberry, Washington
US Senator Paula Hawkins of Florida
Governor Pete Wilson, California

Their past advocacy work also includes two Washington initiative campaigns, representing those opposed to medical malpractice suits and the BIAW.

In 2005 two measures were on the ballot regarding medical malpractice. DWA worked for “Doctors , Nurses and Patients for a Healthy Washington “running with the slogan “stop the greed, vote yes on 330, no on 336. ” As Komonews.com noted “Insurance agencies and doctors wrote the measure (I-330), claiming skyrocketing legal fees jury awards are killing the medical profession.” The other side of the medical malpractice issue was Initiative 336 pushed by the Trial Lawyers. In the end both measures lost at the ballot.

The second Washington measure they were involved in was working for “Workers Against Job Killing Rules” to pass Initiative 841 which tossed out the state’s ergonomic rules that protected workers from injuries. Over half of the $1.4 million dollars to pass I-841 came from the BIAW.

Again the reality belies the myth that Hutchison is nonpartisan. She has contributed money to both Huckabee and the BIAW for example. Yes its guilt by association. You know her by her friends. Just as Rob McKenna was supported by the BIAW and then hired BIAW employees for his staff , expect that the BIAW will have representation in the King County Executives Office if she is elected.

Hutchison knew she couldn’t win running as a Republican in King County. That’s why she supported and worked for the effort to make the King County Executives Office nonpartisan.

Without the Party label, its much easier to deceive voters as to your real politics. But don’t be taken in by her phony nonpartisan claims. She’s a Republican and conservative to boot.

 

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The Susan Hutchison Nonpartisan Myth

Posted on July 19th, 2009 | 2 comments

So if you made contributions to Dino Rossi, Dave Reichert, Mike Huckabee, Cathy McMorris, Mainstream Republicans, King County Republicans’ Central Committee, George Nethercutt and George W Bush but not to any Democrats and Democratic organizations is it honest to call yourself nonpartisan? Susan Hutchison, running for King County Executive seems to think it is.

I think it’s hypocrisy and deceptive politics. This morning on Upfront, Hutchison when asked if she was a Republican and conservative, evaded a direct response by stating that she was “running in a nonpartisan race and that’s intentional.” She claimed, “I’m a non-partisan, never affiliated with a party, you know we don’t register in this state.”

I looked up the word affiliate in the dictionary. While one definition of affiliate is “to take in as a member” a second definition is “to connect or associate (oneself with)” Since Hutchison is correct that no one registers by party to vote in this state, the next best way to identify party affiliation is by looking at who you connect or associate with by your actions.

So let’s judge her by her political actions. One key way you determine party connection or association is by who you contribute money to. Back in April Erica C. Barnett of Slog searched for and found a very identifying list of candidates that Hutchison gave money to. She entitled her post “Susan Hutchison, Partisan Republican” Here is the list of donations Hutchison made, based on Erica’s search of political donations made.

2008
$500 to Republican Congressman Dave Reichert
$375 to Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi
$250 to Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris (now McMorris Rodgers)

2007
$1000 to Citizens for Accountable Elections, the group that made the King County Elections Director a nonpartisan elected position
$700 to Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi
$500 to Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
$100 to Republican King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg

2006
$2,000 to Republican Congressman Dave Reichert
$1,000 to Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris (now McMorris Rodgers)
$1,000 to Republican Douglas Robert Roulstone, who ran against Democratic Congressman Rick Larsen
$250 to Republican Supreme Court candidate Stephen Johnson, a darling of the religious right
$100 to the Mainstream Republicans of Washington

2005
$1000 to ChangePAC, a BIAW-funded group that supported Republican Dino Rossi
$500 to Republican Congreeman Dave Reichert
$250 to the King County Republicans’ Central Committee
$100 to Conrad Lee, a Republican who sits on the Bellevue City Council
$50 to Jeff Sax, a Republican member of the Snohomish County Council
$50 to Jane Fellner, who ran against Seattle School Board incumbent Mary Bass

2004
$3,000 to Republican George Nethercutt, who ran against Sen. Patty Murray

2003
$500 to George W. Bush

In addition a check of 2009 campaign contributions at the PDC website found that in April she gave $800 to”nonpartisan” Reagan Dunn running for re-election on the King County Council.

Since 2003 Susan Hutchison has contributed some $13,525 to Republican candidates, Republican Party organizations and conservative causes according to public campaign fiance records. Of this no money was donated to Democrats or Democratic organizations. An additional $50 was donated to a Seattle School Board candidate that couldn’t be identified as to party.

You know someone by the friends they associate with and support. Hutchison has supported the campaigns of George W Bush, George Nethercutt, Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris, BIAW’s ChangePAC, Mike Huckabee, Dino Rossi, the King County Republican Central Committee and Mainstream Republicans of Washington.

It’s pretty obvious that her history is a strong affiliation with the Republican Party and conservative issues. Her “nonpartisan” gambit is just that, a campaign ploy to try to hide her political philosophy from the voter’s of King County.

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Larry Phillips Leads Fundraising for King County Executive

Posted on July 13th, 2009 | Comments Off on Larry Phillips Leads Fundraising for King County Executive

In the latest fundraising totals available from the Washington State’s Public Disclosure Commission, King County Counclimember Larry Phillips has raised some $395,173 through June 30, 2009 in his bid to fill the King County Executive seat vacated by Ron Sims.

Fellow King County Councilmember Dow Constantine has raised some $282,033.

The sole Republican running in the race Susan Hutchinson reported raising $211,976.

Representative Ross Hunter has raised some $194,382.

State Senator Fred Jarrett has raised $87,100.

Only two of these candidates will go on to the November election. The Primary Election date is August 18, 2009. All King County voters will be mailed a ballot several weeks before the primary.

The deadline to register to vote for the Primary is July 16, 2009 for mail in and address changes.
You can register in person at King County Elections in Renton through Monday August 3, 2009. More information on registering to vote in King County can be found on the King County Elections website.

You can check your registration on line by going to the Washington Secretary of State’s website as well as register on line. The on line registration deadline is July 16, 2009.

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Ron Sims Goes To Washington, DC

Posted on February 2nd, 2009 | Comments Off on Ron Sims Goes To Washington, DC

Ron Sims, King County Executive, has just announced that he has been tapped by President Barrack Obama to head to Washington, DC as the next Deputy Secretary at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In a statement released by the Sims Campaign :

President Barack Obama today announced his intent to nominate me as the next Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. If confirmed by the United States Senate, I will serve the President.

I want to thank you for the support and encouragement you have given me all these years. I would not have been able to serve in an elected capacity without your help. There are no words to express my heartfelt gratitude for your contributions of time and money; no measure of my appreciation for your passion and commitment to work with me on issues that affect our quality of life. …

I sincerely believed I would be tackling these challenges at the regional level when I announced my intention to seek reelection as County Executive. Little did I imagine that I would be called upon by the President to join him on this historic journey. I am so honored. If confirmed, I will give the President, his administration, and our country my very best. I am eager to promote what we have done here in King County, particularly in helping other metropolitan centers adapt to climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build healthy communities that provide economic opportunities for all.

Again, let me thank you for your unyielding support. Leaving King County government will be very difficult, but I look forward to the opportunity to serve our President and our great country.

Councilmember Larry Phillips last year formed an exploratory committee to begin a run for King County Executive. Last Tuesday he announced that he was moving forward with his intent to run for King County Executive.

Larry Phillips is a Democrat. Despite voters last November making the race a nonpartisan one, Democrats hold a distinct edge in winning office in King County. And Phillips has a strong progressive track record on issues, both before the King County Council and before that as a State Legislator.

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