Despite all the reports of low turnout, it looks to me like it’s going to be pretty normal for an odd-year primary—north of 30 percent, at least here in Seattle. But to be honest, I’m not sure what to make of the turnout disparity in the Seattle City Council races, where District 3 (let’s be honest, Sawant vs Banks) is proving an outlier with 20 percent turnout by the end of Monday compared to about 16 percent turnout citywide.
Publicola thinks it bodes well for Sawant, and I’d love to agree. But I really can’t say. It could be an indication that Sawant’s base—younger more lefty voters—are turning out earlier and in greater numbers than usual. Or it could be that it’s the older, wealthier, and more reliably voting Sawant-haters who are turning out in force.
Either way, there’s every reason to suspect the late ballots to trend young and lefty, so if these aren’t Sawant voters swelling the early ballot returns, expect a hard swing in her favor as the tally trickles in over the next week. Sawant closed a 7.5 point election night gap during the 2013 general, so the final primary results could look very different than tonight’s 8:15 drop.
As for the other races, the contest I think could be a bellwether of the mood of the electorate is the battle between John Roderick and Jonathan Grant for the right to challenge City Council President Tim Burgess. In a normal year, the affable, well-spoken, and well-funded Roderick should come in an easy second. But Grant has clearly positioned himself as the champion of beleaguered Seattle renters. If the under-funded Grant manages to edge out Roderick for the second slot on the November ballot, that’ll be a clear sign that affordable housing is resonating as the dominant issue with voters citywide.
All that said, other than determining the composition of the November ballot, I’m going to try to resist reading too much into the primary results (and I’m certainly going to be cautious about predicting anything from tonight’s lone 8:15 pm ballot drop). November will be a very different (and much larger) electorate than August.
Oh… and if you haven’t already, vote, goddammit!
(Utah, HANEWS) Apostle Mitt Romney has announced that he supports voting rights for the passed. The former Presidential candidate said “Just as na unborn fetus is a person because it has a soul, so must the right to vote never be removed from a ciiizen merely because they have passed on to another better world.
I would love it if there was a way to reward people who vote. How about a gift card? Or twenty dollars off their next ticket? Or discounted street parking? Aw, fuck it.
“Apostle Mitt Romney has announced that he supports voting rights for the passed.”
As Mormons can baptize the dead, whether they ever desired to be Mormon or not, it stands to reason that Mormons should be able to vote Republican for the dead as well.
The first election campaign I ever worked in was a legislative race in 1970. We knew the final results by 8:40 p.m. on election night (except for a small number of absentee ballots which couldn’t affect the outcome). Here we are 45 years later, with all our advances in technology, and vote counting stops at 8:15 on election night. We won’t/can’t have final results for another week or so. I don’t yearn for the Good Old Days very often, but on this issue, I do.
@1 Why do you assume the next world is better than this one? Any god who would allow the injustices of this world to persist probably isn’t going to exert himself very much in whatever world you enter upon leaving this one, either. There, as here, you’re on your own. My suggestion is to buy stock, because in any world I can imagine, it’s better to be an owner than a wage slave.
@4 If this election follows the typical pattern of American elections, Sawant will be reelected by voters who are voting for her because they’ve heard of her, but have no clue of what she has done in office, or what her positions are. If Ted Bundy was still alive he probably could get elected to something just on name familiarity.
@3 Steve, I do not think anyone should be able to vote for anyone else just because they are dead. If someone who has passed want to vote then why shouldn’t they do so using a mil in ballot?
My understanding is that Mr. Romney would still require that all ballots be signed. The only major obstacle I see is place of residence. I you have passed on, how can you also be a resident of Utah?
Seattle City Council, top two candidates
Pos. 1 – Herbold, Braddock
Pos. 2 – Harrell+, Morale
Pos. 3 – Sawant, Banks
Pos. 4 – Johnson, Maddox
Pos. 5 – Juarez, Brown
Pos. 6 – O’Brien+, Wheatbrook
Pos. 7 – Bagshaw+, Zach-Artis
Pos. 8 – Burgess, Grant
Pos. 9 – Bonzales+, Bradburd
+ = candidate with over 50% of total vote
Port of Seattle
Pos. 2 – Gregoire 82%, Goodspace Guy 9%, Naubert 8%
Pos. 5 – Felleman 21%, Pope 16%, Rogers 12%
King County Elections Director
Wise 62%, Hudgins 21%, Roberts 15%
You left out Yoshino with 19% in my race
@9 I did indeed.
Of course, Grant’s agenda is to align with NIMBYs and prevent adding to the housing supply, thus making the gap between supply and demand worse and further enriching incumbant landlords, while grandstanding for a policy that will remain illegal and off the table for the foreseeable future, so he’s a terrible choice for people who actually care about the cost of housing, rather than vapid, useless rhetoric about affordable housing.