Okay, first off, let me just say upfront that I was wrong. Yesterday I predicted that a bunch of local races would likely be “too close to call,” when in fact, really, none of them are. Some will likely tighten up, but I will be awfully surprised if any of last night’s top-line winners end up losing.
The tightest race right now is in District 3, where Kshama Sawant leads challenger Pamela Banks by 5.4 points, but the late ballots will surely trend in Sawant’s favor. I guess District 1’s race between Shannon Braddock and Lisa Herbold (52.9% to 46.5%) is technically in the too-close-to-call range, but it’s hard to imagine a sufficient late ballot swing.
So then, what did we learn from last night’s election? Absolutely nothing. Every incumbent won reelection, and in all but one race (District 5, where fundraising was almost even), every winner outspent the loser. As usual. Also, we easily passed another property tax levy. Imagine that.
So much for the disruptive impact of district elections.
Speaking of which, for all the excitement allegedly generated by putting nine council seats up for election at once (four of them open!), voter turnout is likely to hit a historic low. Citywide, Seattle is only on track for about 39 percent turnout, compared to over 52 percent just two years ago.
So yeah, nothing to see here. Incumbents win, money rules, and turnout sucks.
One incumbent who appears to be out is Jean Hague. Might have happened a few years back if the KingCo Democrats had given Richard Pope something other than the finger.
Everyone should give Richard Pope the finger regardless of party affiliation. He’s a step above Goodspaceguy but not by much.
Timmeh Eyeman’s initiative is headed straight to court, where it will be overturned, just like everything else he comes up with…which gives him the opportunity to pocket more money on the next one..
Seattle Has gained tens of thousands of new residents since 2010, many of them tech workers. I wonder how many of them never bothered to register to vote, or, if they did register, blew off voting because they are disengaged from civic affairs. Probably I’m just brogrammer bashing…but still, people who don’t vote should be cited and fined. One of the few bright spots is to see that alcoholic RW bitch Jane Hague sent packing not a moment too soon.
@4,
probably they don’t feel connected to the city in “that way”.
Just there to make money, build the CV, and make the scene until it’s time for them to “retire” in the burbs west of Portland renting “vintage” travel trailers to wine tourists. Disengaged doesn’t begin to describe it.
Now this is interesting: Democrats swept all 3 open seats on Pennsylvania’s supreme court, giving them a 5-2 court majority — and control over that state’s next redistricting.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....ail=email#
And remember the rightwingers who seized control of a Colorado school board and tried to change the high school curriculum to brainwash students with conservative ideology, triggering student walkouts and protests? They were all recalled by voters yesterday. Let ’em run their home schools and charter schools as they please, but they’ll no longer dictate public education policies in Denver suburbs.
http://www.denverpost.com/elec.....gco-school
There were more Democratic victories Tuesday: Indianapolis elected a Democratic mayor in a deep-red state, and a Democrat ousted the Republican mayor of Salt Lake City in an even deeper-red state; Charleston, South Carolina, also has a new Democratic mayor. Mississippi’s popular Democratic state attorney general was re-elected, and Democrats also won control of that state’s public utility commission, where a power company is trying to pass $6.4 billion of construction cost overruns to consumers. And in New Jersey, Chris Christie’s state, Democrats won 3 legislative seats to give them their largest Assembly majority in nearly 4 decades — not exactly a ringing endorsement of their governor-cum-presidential candidate’s administration. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible day for progressives, despite the liberal-biased media’s obsessive fawning over a couple of Teaparty wins.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....tail=email
So SEIU bought itself an inflamed carbuncle for several 100s of 1000s of dollars. Now the Savant of Leschi will be confined in a box of ignoreher.
What a “fucking” waste of union dues.
@9 SEIU spent almost nothing on this campaign. Sawant and her people raised half a million dollars, mostly in small contributions.
Poor loser.
Actually it’s not all politics as usual. Sure the incumbents won and this time money talked. Still Sawant apparently has kept her seat, in politics as usual she would have lost.
Goldy just go to the new Bond movie “Sceptre” and just relax and enjoy the movie. Remember James Bond probably supports gun control as he’s British. In any case he’s not a Republican with a gun.
@12,
That’s so sad. Puddy’s prefrontal cortex finally packed it in and he’s turned into a spam bot.
I recently relocated to Albuquerque. You are whining about 39% turnout?
Turnout was 8% here.
I never even got my ballot in the mail, a lot of people didn’t, especially renters. I was told that I’m an inactive voter, despite the fact that I vote every time and was registered to vote at the address I live at. According to KC elections themselves that happened 112,580 King County voters. And that’s not even getting into ballots that were lost in the mail or won’t be counted because some nitpicking detail wasn’t done right. And then when it’s all said and done our votes get scanned by Diebold machines.
We are one of the few places in America where it actually costs something to vote and we have the slowest, shoddiest elections this side of Florida. Probably our elections are worse than Florida. Kshama squeaked out a win on her home turf in what’s probably the most liberal neighborhood on planet Earth by raising half a mil in small contributions and knocking on 80 thousand doors. Also she got her signature campaign issue done in like 6 months, now New York and LA are doing it, she’s Seattle’s rockstar. Who can honestly say she wouldn’t have won by like 80 percent in an election with polling places and hand counting. Was anyone seriously digging Pamela Banks? For that matter who seriously digs Darth Burgess, cop turned anti gay marriage anti choice lobbyist turned progressive and his tunnel to hell? Bruce Harrell is hanging on by a thread against an opponent that barely ran. Over in District 4 Michael Maddux is way cooler than Rob Johnson. These Murray yes men candidates aren’t that popular, they got something else going for them. At least Burgess was scared enough to sponsor a rent control initiative even though he knows his brethren in the Grand Ol Party will block it at the state level.