Hutchison tops field in executive race
August 19, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
New, Aug. 19, 9:13 a.m.
Early results cast a definite light on the King County Executive primary race, with Susan Hutchison as the clear leader Aug. 18 followed by Dow Constantine.
Mail-in ballots needed to be postmarked by Aug. 18 and the counting will go on for days.
Megan Coppersmith, a spokeswoman for King County Elections, said about 40,000 more votes would be published by 4:30 p.m. Aug. 19 and King County Elections expects to receive another 100,000 votes by Aug. 21. The final results will appear on the elections Web site at noon Sept. 2.
Hutchison surmounted a field of eight candidates including two Eastside state legislators and two King County Councilmen, all campaigning for the open seat. As of 9:52 p.m. Aug. 18, Hutchison had 37.37 percent of the vote, translating into 65,917 votes.
Her opponent in the Nov. 3 general election looks to be Dow Constantine, current chairman of the King County Council, who earned 22.41 percent of the vote and 39,536 votes.
After Constantine, three of the candidates split about a third of the votes. Fred Jarrett had 12.04 percent, Larry Phillips had 11.73 percent and Ross Hunter had 10.89 percent.
The other primary races were not nearly as competitive.
Anne Ellington won her judicial race for the state Court of Appeals, Division 1. She earned 74.16 percent of the vote, or 117,170 votes. Her opponent Robert Kelly, received 25.36 percent of the vote, or 40,074 votes.
In the two Port of Seattle Commission races, Rob Holland will face David Doud and Tom Albro will face Max Vekich in the general election. Holland was the top vote getter in his primary race, with 50.93 percent of the vote, or 80,794 votes. Doud had 33.10 percent of the vote, or 52,501 votes.
Albro led in his primary race with 38.72 percent of the vote, or 60,313 votes. Vekich had 26.75 percent of the vote, or 41,659 votes. In the Albro/Vekich race, Robert Walker was a close third contender, receiving 24.7 percent of the votes, or 38,478 votes.
The 2009 election races that are more local to Sammamish bypassed the primary because the number of candidates was already whittled down to two or less. The Nov. 3 general election will include four contested races for the Sammamish City Council and one contested race for a seat on the Lake Washington School Board. In the case of the school board race, however, the challenger Julie Wright has said she does not want to win and supports the incumbent Doug Eglington.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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