ELECTION 2015: Second ballot count changes City Council District 1 lead – Herbold now #1, Braddock #2

King County Elections has gone public with its second round of primary-election results. While the top two in Seattle City Council District 1 remain the same, the order has changed – Lisa Herbold is now slightly ahead of Shannon Braddock:

Herbold – 28.56% – 3551 votes
Braddock – 28.23% – 3510 votes
Tavel – 18.51% – 2301 votes
Thomas – 10.87% – 1351 votes
Redmond – 7.20% – 895 votes
Rushmer – 2.20% – 274 votes
Robles – 1.56% – 194 votes
Wirsing – 1.41% – 175 votes
Goberman – 1.16% – 144 votes

Otherwise, the top two remain the same, in the same order as last night, in all the other races that West Seattleites voted on – at-large Council Positions 8 and 9, Port Commission Positions 2 and 5, and School Board Position 6, the only other district-specific (West Seattle/South Park) race on this ballot, which is now:

Leslie Harris – 46.74% – 5240 votes
Marty McLaren – 38.69% – 4338 votes
Nick Esparza – 14.09% – 1580 votes

Next results will be out around the same time tomorrow, with daily counts until final certification in two weeks. The general election is Tuesday, November 3rd.

Mark schletty August 5, 2015 (4:55 pm)

Just to point out the obvious, each of the 2 leading candidates are recieving about 5% of the eligible ballots mailed out to our district. That means in the general election you will get to pick from 2 candidates that got almst no overt support in the primary. Thank you for doing this, those of you who, like me, wanted to see a major change in the way west seattle was being treated by the city, for not bothering to vote. You all get what you deserve. Too bad the rest of us also reap what you nonvoters have sown.

WSB August 5, 2015 (5:16 pm)

The next stat for how many ballots were returned, overall in King County plus district by district, will be published around 8 pm. But if you add up the numbers in this race, it is indeed still only about 20 percent of the 60,000 “active voters” (and even that number, for starters, is fewer than the number of POTENTIAL voters in West Seattle/South Park).

trickycoolj August 5, 2015 (5:15 pm)

I turned my ballot in yesterday at the WC drop off at 6pm after working OT and not having any stamps and the post office being closed. It hasn’t even been acknowledged yet so hopefully there are many others like me who dropped off yesterday. I know I voted for none of the current winners.

thisisagooddeal August 5, 2015 (5:30 pm)

I wouldn’t say no overt support. It’s indifference on the part of those who didn’t vote, not a lack of support for the candidates who advanced.

And the rest of the people who cared and did research voted. Their votes deserve to be considered representative.

A big part of me doesn’t want the indifferent to vote. It’d be better if people cared, but if they don’t, do we really want them voting?

onion August 5, 2015 (6:03 pm)

Tavel actually lost a bit of ground since yesterday’s report. So a big turnaround is unlikely.
As for the swap between first and second place, I attribute it primarily to the negative publicity and comments Braddock was subjected to regarding her support from the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and restaurateurs. She’ll have to work hard between now and November to counter the negative comments and to win over the people who voted for other candidates and who didn’t vote in the primary.

Kimmy August 5, 2015 (6:11 pm)

Mark, while I hoped for different results as you did, having additional turn out wouldn’t have guaranteed that other candidates would have finished top 2.

Ms. Sparkles August 5, 2015 (6:19 pm)

I am deeply disappointed that Lisa Herbiold advanced despite her campaign callers disrespecting my direct statement NOT to call me again.
.
First I received a call from one of her people who didn’t even ask if it was a good time to talk (it wasn’t) & I had to interrupt her spiel to let her know I wasn’t interested & not to call my home again. Then I got a robo-call (I abhor those), and then on election night I got another call from a live person with her campaign – after having told the LAST live person to take me off their call list. I gave him more of an earful than he deserved.
.
I guess I’ll be voting “NOT Herbold” in the election- Braddock gets my vote by default.

M August 5, 2015 (7:54 pm)

I didn’t vote because here wasn’t any choices. All the candidates are way to similar.

rob August 5, 2015 (8:02 pm)

it did not matter witch one we voted for they are all connected to the same group that is there right now. people like nike locata so we elected his clone

Michelle August 6, 2015 (6:32 am)

Tavel was by FAR the best choice for West Seattle! Very disappointed and scared for what’s to come with the top 2 candidates representing West Seattle and South Park.

Ivan August 6, 2015 (7:35 am)

Exactly what scares you?

STB August 6, 2015 (8:41 am)

@Sparkles I agree.

IMHO, Tavel is the best of the bunch for WS & SP. I voted for him. Braddock will also get my vote by default in the primary.

What scares me: Where are the Servant Leaders?

Diane August 6, 2015 (11:58 am)

wth does “Servant Leaders” mean?

thisisagooddeal August 6, 2015 (12:39 pm)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership

NotAGoodDeal August 6, 2015 (1:46 pm)

Well, that was uneventful. Looks like we will have some of the same. I’m so disappointed, but did not have great expectations.

I wonder how many people didn’t vote because they didn’t have stamps. Isn’t it time that ballots be postage free?

AmandaKH August 6, 2015 (2:27 pm)

Good point NotAGoodDeal. I am much more interested in seeing ballots be free to mail in, than the Honest Elections “Democracy Vouchers”. It would only cost $580,000 (@ $.49/ballot) in King County and I bet we’d see a much better return.

thisisagooddeal August 6, 2015 (3:30 pm)

As far as I know, there were free drop boxes around the city.

But I’m sorry, for the vast majority of people in this city, a stamp should not be used as an excuse not to vote. If you really want to vote, $0.50 is not much of a barrier.

ChefJoe August 6, 2015 (3:37 pm)

Goldy at The Stranger did an experiment a few years back and didn’t put a stamp on his ballot. He said it still arrived and was counted. Of course, that could change if everyone was enjoying that secret policy of delivery anyways.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/08/04/a-truly-free-election

WSB August 6, 2015 (3:43 pm)

I wouldn’t risk it … we have also known people whose ballots WERE returned and not counted. And yes, there were free drop boxes in various areas, plus the ballot vans in West Seattle and White Center. – which we publicized and announced repeatedly FWIW ….

Diane August 6, 2015 (4:01 pm)

wish we could get a 24-hour ballot drop like Ballard, at their library; it would be highly beneficial to get more drop boxes; but agree with thisisagooddeal on this one; 49 cent stamp, no excuse for not voting

Ivan August 6, 2015 (4:10 pm)

Lisa Herbold just gained 299 votes in today’s count, and has widened her lead to 340 votes, with 30.07% to her nearest opponent’s 27.97%.

WSB August 6, 2015 (4:28 pm)

Yup, new story was up at 4:08 pm- https://westseattleblog.com/?p=319134

AmandaKH August 6, 2015 (4:17 pm)

There are lots of excuses I’ve heard for not voting: Too many candidates, It’s Summer!, my vote doesn’t really count are just a few. But again, limited numbers of drop boxes (2 in West Seattle) and finding a stamp are limiters. Honest Elections wants to raise $3m with property taxes to give all voters $100 to donate to candidates. Let’s start by making voting as easy as possible. Once we have the money out of voting, we can get the money out of elections.

East Coast Cynic August 6, 2015 (6:28 pm)

Tavel certainly wasn’t the best choice for West Seattle residents who favor better public transportation. According to the KC website on the SCC candidate positions, Tavel only favored increasing bus service to West Seattle, but did not favor light rail nor the West Side Transit Tunnel for real BRT service—which probably explains why the reactionary Seattle Times editorial board endorsed him since it opposes any kind of advanced right of way public transportation.

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