‘So irresponsible’: Dave Ross on voters who don’t cast their ballots
Nov 4, 2025, 10:54 AM
Election day has arrived, and races across Washington are nearing a close as voters continue to cast their ballots for several key positions, including Seattle and Everett mayor, city council, city attorney, and King County Executive, among others.
Former KIRO Newsradio host Dave Ross spoke on “Seattle’s Morning News” to provide an election roadmap, including which races to follow, what he believes voters are considering, and the importance of submitting a ballot, following poor voter turnout numbers in the primaries.
“I think the big trend nationwide, in terms of larger state races, is whether an ‘R’ after your name helps or hurts you in the election. People are looking for ways to make their discontent known with the Trump Administration, and I’d be curious to see if the punishment extends to some of these partisan state races now,” Ross said. “It’s pretty simple for me as a voter: did the guy in office do what he promised or not? If he did, you should reward them by returning them; if not, you choose a new person and roll the dice.”
Both of Seattle’s Mayoral candidates, Bruce Harrell and Katie Wilson, emerged from the state’s August primary as the two leading candidates, with Wilson leading Harrell by more than 18,000 votes. Ross viewed the voter turnout in the primary as “pathetic” and believed the gap between the candidates could be shortened if more voters got to their local ballot boxes.
“The most interesting race to me is going to be the Seattle mayor’s race, because of the surprise during the primary election, where Katie Wilson got 46% of the vote. I would caution everybody, the turnout in the primary was a pathetic 34%, so a lot of new people could show up today,” Ross said. “One of the things that really annoys me, got me to lose my temper, was the number of people who look at the ballot and then throw it into the recycle bin. It’s so irresponsible.”
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
Listen to “Seattle’s Morning News” with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast here.
