Primary Elections: Where Seattle City Council, county races stand

After an initial round of primary election returns were released Tuesday evening, the initial results have interesting implications for the general election going forward in November.

Click here for updated Washington Primary Election Results

Seattle City Council

There’s a lot of interest in the Seattle City Council’s Primary Election results, where four of the seven districts have no incumbents in the race.

The council members trying to keep their seats this year are Tammy Morales (District 2), Dan Strauss (District 6), and Andrew Lewis (District 7).

Councilmembers Kshama Sawant (District 3), Alex Pedersen (District 4), Debora Juarez (District 5), and Lisa Herbold (District 1) are all not seeking reelection.

In District 1, the two top vote-getters so far are Maren Costa (30%) and Rob Saka (25%).

District 2 has incumbent Tammy Morales (49%) and Tanya Woo (45%) in the lead.

District 3 has nine new candidates with Joy Hollingsworth (39%) and Alex Hudson (31%) ahead.

In District 4, Ron Davis (42%) and Maritza Rivera (33%) are the top vote-getters so far.

District 5, out of 10 candidates, the leaders are Cathy Moore (32%) and Christina ObeySumner (22%).

District 6, incumbent Dan Strauss (51%) and challenger Pete Hanning (30%) are ahead.

And in District 7, incumbent Andrew Lewis (42%) and Bob Kettle (32%) are leading.

Snohomish County Executive

Incumbent Dave Somers holds a substantial lead in his re-election campaign for Snohomish County Executive.

Of the three candidates, Somers, a Democrat, is leading the field with more than 52% of the votes.

The top challenger is Bob Hagglund, who chairs the Snohomish County Republican Party. His vote total as of last night was nearly 37%.

Edmonds Mayor

Incumbent Mike Nelson seeks to serve his second term as Edmonds’ mayor. Nelson previously served on the Edmonds City Council from 2015-2019.

The race is tight between Nelson and opponent Mike Rosen, who currently leads the race at 35%, while Nelson is at 34%. Just 103 ballots remain the difference in the race between the two candidates.

Olympia Mayor

Olympia’s next mayor will come from a diverse group of candidates: a city council member, a business owner, and a mother who lived out of her car with her seven-year-old daughter. The open election has no incumbent after Cheryl Selby, Olympia’s mayor since 2016, announced last December that she will not seek a third term this November.

Olympia City Council member Dontae Payne currently leads by a wide margin at 65%.

Behind Payne, with 30%, is David Ross, a small business owner in Olympia. Ross ran for Mayor in a previous election three years ago and failed to make it to the general election.

Whatcom County Executive

Satpal Sidhu is seeking his second term as Whatcom County Executive. He previously served as a county council member from 2015-2020.

He currently leads the race at 35%, with opponent Dan Purdy sitting behind him at 28%. Alicia Rule and Barry Buchanan received 17.6% and 13.9% of the votes, respectively.

Bellingham Mayor

Incumbent Seth Fleetwood faces several challengers as he looks to continue serving as Bellingham’s mayor for a second term. He previously served two terms on the Whatcom County Council and two terms on the Bellingham City Council.

Fleetwood sits at 37% currently, with opponent Kim Lund the next closest behind him at 25% of the votes. Just 42 votes separates Mike McAuley from Kristina Michele Martens, currently third and fourth in the race for Bellingham mayor.

King County Prop. 1

The only King-county-wide ballot measure to renew a levy for Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services is ahead by a significant number of votes.

Proposition One got 69% of the ballots released on Tuesday.

King County Executive Dow Constantine issued a statement thanking voters and expressing optimism for the future of the levy that pays for housing, job training, emergency financial assistance, and other services.

Tacoma Prop. 1

A levy in the city of Tacoma to nearly double property tax assessments to pay for emergency medical services is passing with a significant lead.

Some 66% of the ballots support increasing the levy from $0.28 per every $1000 of assessed home value to $0.50.

That will raise the taxes for the average homeowner by about $ 108 dollars a year.

The money would go to the EMS department of Tacoma Fire.

Bremerton Prop. 1

Bremerton Proposition 1 would impose an additional levy for public safety services. Prop 1 would increase the property tax rate by $0.40 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value.

City officials said the measure would allow the Bremerton Fire Department to add eight firefighters/EMTs and one support staff member and allow the Bremerton Police Department to add eight officers.

The vote is close, with 53% of votes to reject and 47% to approve. The difference is less than 400 ballots.

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The next round of ballots will be released later Wednesday afternoon.