A new election cycle has ushered in potential for drastic changes in Seattle and King County as the results of the primary were finalized in mid-August.
Just near 25 percent of voters in King County returned their ballots for the primary. In Seattle, District 3—containing the Central District, International District, and Mt. Baker—had the highest return rate of 36 percent of registered voters.
District 1, comprised of Southwest Seattle from West Seattle to Fauntleroy, contained nine candidates, the largest number for all positions. Nick Licata staffer Lisa Herbold and Joe McDermott staffer Shannon Braddock will move on to the general election.
Incumbent Bruce Harrell garnered 62 percent of the votes in District 2. Community organizer Tammy Morales will face him in November to represent the district, which constitutes Southwest Seattle from Columbia City to Rainier Beach.
In District 3, the newest councilmember Kshama Sawant, elected in 2013, won over half of the votes while Urban League President Pamela Banks came in second with a third of the votes.
Rob Johnson, executive director of Transportation Choices Coalition, and advocate Michael Maddux will continue to the general election for District 4. This district stretches from Wallingford to Sand Point and contains large, distinct age groups, making this a difficult race. Current councilmember Jean Godden came in third for this race and will not continue to the general election.
North Seattle’s District 5 was another tough race, with eight candidates and no incumbent. Tribal lawyer Debora Juarez and Rev. Sandy Brown will be running for the seat in the primary, having garnered 39 percent and 20 percent of the votes respectively.
Ballard community leader Catherine Weatbrook will run against incumbent Mike O’Brian for District 6 come November. O’Brian received 59 percent of votes while Weatbrook received 22 percent of votes from the neighborhoods in Northeast Seattle.
The race for District 7, encompassing Queen Anne and Downtown Seattle, will be between incumbent Sally Bagshaw, who won the primary with over three-thirds of the votes, and resident Deborah Zech-Artis.
Finishing the last two council positions, both at-large, will be John Grant, executive director of Tenants Union, against incumbent Tim Burgess and Lorena Gonzalez, former legal counsel to Mayor Ed Murray, against Bill Bradburd, former chair of the Seattle Neighborhoods Coalition.
Elections for the Port of Seattle, which had a flurry of issues this year including leasing space for Shell oil rigs, were less heated. Commissioner Position 2 saw incumbent Courtney Gregoire win the primary by a landslide. Goodspaceguy came second with nine percent.
Commissioner Position 5 will be between environmental consultant Fred Felleman and Marion Yoshino, former Normandy Park councilmember. The candidates respectively garnered 25 percent and 18 percent of the votes to beat out seven other candidates.
Registration for the general election closes Oct. 5 and the general election is Nov. 3. To register, visit http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/myvote/olvr.html.