Hot news from the political ball game in WA

by: DottieG

Thu Aug 23, 2007 at 09:08:20 PM EDT

Here's the Progressive Majority's report:

In Washington state's Tuesday's primary election, 11 of our 27 candidates faced primaries, many of them stiff challenges.

As of this morning, 10 of our 11 candidates have won their primaries and moved on to the general election this November.

Snohomish County: A New Progressive Majority.
The most important race in the primary was for Snohomish County Council, where Brian Sullivan won the Democratic nomination against a long-time elected official. As his district is strongly Democratic, he faces only token conservative opposition in the general election. Sullivan replaces a conservative Democrat and changes the balance of power on the council from conservatives to progressives!

We have been working on the Snohomish County Council since we opened our doors in Washington in 2004 when the council had a 4-1 conservative majority. In 2005, we helped Dave Somers get elected. Now this fall we have one other Snohomish County Council race. If our candidate Mike Cooper wins in November, we will have a 4-1 progressive majority! Now, that's PROGRESS!

Big Upset in Port of Seattle, but the battle isn't over yet.  Progressive Majority candidate Gael Tarleton led incumbent Seattle Port Commissioner Bob Edwards. In fact, Edwards is at a lowly 28%!!!! The progressive community has been fighting for a majority on the port for years; this year we have our best chance in years to win. It's time for change, and Gael is ready to deliver that change!

Here is a complete list of results from the Washington State primary. As Washington is a vote-by-mail state, the numbers can change, but we're confident in our predications:

County Offices

John Lovick - Snohomish County Sherriff
Won! Faces a tough general election.

Brian Sullivan - Snohomish County Council, District 2
Won! Faces token opposition in the general.

Bob Kelly - Whatcom County Council, District 1, Position B
Won! Currently leading other candidates 2:1.

City Offices:

Dan McShane - Bellingham Mayor
Won! The leading vote-getter over 6 primary opponents.

Maureen Judge - Mercer Island City Council, Position 3. Won! The leading vote getter over 3 primary opponents.

Terry Scott - Shoreline City Council, Position 6. Won! While the election results are close, he will advance to the general election and held an incumbent to 35%!

Marilyn Strickland - Tacoma City Council, At Large, Won! The leading vote-getter in a four-way primary.

De'Sean Quinn - Tukwila City Council, Position 2. Lost in a three-way primary.

Ron Bonlender - Yakima City Council, District 3. Won! Bonlender will face strong opposition this fall.

Seattle Port Commission:

Alec Fisken - Position 5. Won! Alec will face a very strong race this fall against a very well-funded opponent.

Gael Tarleton - Position 2. Won! Leading a 6-way primary over an 8-year incumbent.