While there are still hundreds of thousands of votes to be counted from the November 2 general election, we have already seen candidates emerge and assume leadership roles in key contests, mirroring national trends.
Here are Five Quick Takeaways From Tuesday’s Results:
An evening of terror for Seattle’s liberals. There were no clear frontrunners in the three most important contests in the city, but the moderate, business-backed candidates were able to build massive, seemingly insurmountable leads.
The incumbent, M. Laurena Gonzalez, has been criticised by her predecessor, Bruce Harrell, for her support of slashing police funding by half and ending single-family zoning. He was ahead of the rest by a staggering 30 percentage points, a distance that is highly unlikely to be closed in the next few days.
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Nikkita Oliver, an anti-racism activist and lawyer, came in last in the city’s most contentious election for city council, losing to brewery owner Sarah Nelson, who had worked as an assistant to Richard Conlin, a councillor who was beaten in 2013 by socialist Kshama Savant.
Saying goodnight to Republicans in Seattle and King County... In reference to Seattle municipal elections, the phrase “good night to Seattle Republicans” hasn’t been published in over 30 years.
However, in the non-partisan election for city attorney, Davison, who campaigned for lieutenant governor as a Republican in 2020, has a 17-point edge.
Paul Kraabel, a Republican, was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1975 and served until 1991.
Join the GOP and the Democrats will help you out... Okay, the race for city attorney keeps popping into my head.
Anne Davison, who campaigned for Seattle City Council in 2019, lost her race against incumbent Deborah Juarez and afterwards said that Seattle Democrats are evil and that she was unable to enlist the assistance of Democratic political advisors in her challenge.
Therefore, she switched parties in 2020 and stood for lieutenant governor as a Republican. She stayed in the first round of voting.
City Attorney Pete Holmes appeared unconcerned by Davison’s and Thomas Kennedy’s late applications for the annual flash this year. They were able to win the primary election and defeat Holmes.
The political establishment of the democratic system began to worry. The Democratic organisations in the district coalesced around former governor Thomas Kennedy. Davison was surprised by the defection of Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke.
The importance of timing cannot be overstated. If Harrell stays as mayor, he will take Seattle in an extremely nontraditional direction.
After Mayor Ed Murray resigned amid sexual assault charges in 2017, Seattle had four mayors in a span of a week, including Harrell.
Harrell served as mayor for a week as council president when Murray resigned in September. Harrell declined to finish Murray’s term and instead took his old council seat back. Prior to Jenny Durcan’s 2017 election as mayor, Councilman Tim Burgess served as acting mayor for a few months.
It’s grammar class now. It’s hard to conceive of a less momentous alteration than the one that King County voters appeared to make to their constituency’s founding document.
When a country makes a revision to its constitution, it’s noteworthy since the United States Constitution hasn’t been updated since 1992. (technically called a county charter).
Both of these alterations were supported by constituent voters.
The first modifies the charter to include the establishment of a “just” government “for all” and the advancement of a “higher quality of life” as declared goals. It also corrects a grammar error by changing the term “insure” to “guarantee” in a statement about county accountability for transparent leadership. Both “insurance” and “guarantee” can be used in this context, but “insurance” is more typically used in financial contexts.
