Three weeks after voting ended on Election Day, King County has certified the final results. Here’s how the three key incumbentless local races ended up:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 (46% turnout)
Rob Saka – 18,382 – 54.15%
Maren Costa – 15,431 – 45.46%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8 (41% turnout)
Teresa Mosqueda – 33,921 – 55.01%
Sofia Aragon – 27,553 – 44.68%

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6 (45% turnout)
Gina Topp – 173,596 – 88.58%
Maryanne Wood – 21,796 – 11.12%

(Here’s the full countywide results report for all races and measures.) Generally the newly elected leaders won’t take office until the start of the year. For example, City Council spokesperson Joseph Peha tells us their public ceremonies will be either January 2 or 9, but they will take the oath of office in late December in low-key private ceremonies as the result of a city rule requiring that “to create overlap in case of an emergency like an earthquake, etc., (so) there can be continuity of government.”

Though the election results won’t be finalized and certified for another two-plus weeks, after today’s count, the daily results updates will be down to a trickle. Most notably in our area, this means Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda will be moving to the County Council, with ballots counted from 40 percent of voters in District 8, which includes West Seattle, White Center, Vashon and Maury Islands, and spans southward to Burien:

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
Teresa Mosqueda – 32,811 – 54.77%
Sofia Aragon – 26,908 – 44.91%

Mosqueda’s term in citywide Position 8 had two more years to go. Her successor will be appointed by the new council. Speaking of which, it’s definitely final in D-1:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Rob Saka – 17,880 – 54.35%
Maren Costa – 14,872 – 45.21%

45 percent of voters’ ballots have been counted in these results, only 1 percent less than have been received. In the six other council districts, two of the three incumbents who did run for re-election are leading their opponents – Tammy Morales and Dan Strauss. If these results hold, the council will have six new members and three holdovers. Next ballot count is on Monday.

The third round of election results is out. No change in who’s winning the local races we’ve been watching.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1: 7,000+ additional votes were counted in today’s tally, which now brings the count up to 34.4% of registered D-1 voters, with at least 9,000 left to count, according to the ballot-return stats.

Rob Saka – 14,250 – 56.99%
Maren Costa – 10,637 – 42.54%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8: More than 14,000 additional votes have been counted, for a total so far of 31.6% of registered D-8 voters; at least 14,000 ballots remain to be counted.

Teresa Mosqueda – 24,759 – 52.36%
Sofia Aragon – 22,364 – 47.29%

Though tomorrow’s a government holiday, the KC Elections calendar says there’ll be a Friday afternoon update.

The second set of King County general-election results is in – but it didn’t add much to the totals in our local races; the elections team lost time today because of a powder scare – here’s how they explained it:

This morning, King County Elections received a piece of mail that contained white powder. The envelope was immediately isolated, the facility evacuated, and 911 was called. Law enforcement and HAZMAT teams arrived quickly to assess the situation.

The piece of concerning mail arrived in our mailroom, on the first floor, in our administrative suite. All ballots remained secured on the ballot processing floor and were monitored by both security cameras and livestreamed webcams viewable on the King County Elections website.

This situation kept Elections staff out of the building and away from processing ballots for approximately three hours. After the mailroom was cleared and cleaned by HAZMAT, staff returned to work and processing resumed for the day.

In all, the new results only add 20,000 ballots countywide, only several hundred in City Council District 1, which is at the same margin as last night:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Maren Costa – 7,265 – 40.91%
Rob Saka – 10,393 – 58.53%

For the closest race in our area, County Council District 8, close to 2,000 more ballots have been counted, and the gap is wider than last night, more than a point and a half:

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
Teresa Mosqueda – 17,224 – 50.68%
Sofia Aragon – 16,612 – 48.88%

Find the full set of updated results here. Next update is due out by 4 pm tomorrow.

8:26 PM: Tonight’s biggest race in our area is for the City Council District 1 seat that Lisa Herbold is leaving after two terms, representing a newly expanded area including not only West Seattle and South Park, but also Georgetown and south-downtown neighborhoods. In the first and only round of results to be released tonight, here’s where the race stands:

Rob Saka – 10,088 – 58.65%
Maren Costa – 7,013 – 40.77%

In the six other council races, the three incumbents that are running for re-election – Tammy Morales, Andrew Lewis, and Dan Strauss – are all trailing their challengers. Second round of results will be released around 4 pm tomorrow.

9:58 PM: Saka’s Election Night party was at Portage Bay Café in The Junction. We went over after the results came in and talked to him briefly:

If none of the leads change – the only one close is District 6, where incumbent Dan Strauss is two percentage points behind challenger Pete Hanning – and if Teresa Mosqueda is elevted to the County Council (she’s narrowly leading), Saka would be one of eight new City Councilmembers, with Sara Nelson (midway through her first term) the only holdover.

8:25 PM: Tonight’s second-biggest race in our area is for the County Council District 8 seat that Joe McDermott is leaving after 13 years. In tonight’s first and only round of results, here’s where the race stands:

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8
Teresa Mosqueda – 16,189 – 50.18%
Sofia Aragon – 15,929 – 49.37%

9:50 PM: Mosqueda, a citywide Seattle City Councilmember and North Delridge resident, spent Election Night at a party downtown, too far for us to go interview her, but she has sent a statement saying in part: “It’s been incredibly motivating to connect with community leaders and neighbors across this district. The outcome of this election is a testament to our campaign’s deep community engagement and collaborative work to support community-led solutions. Thank you to every endorsing community member, labor union, organization, small business, and elected leader who generously offered their time to help make this result possible. I appreciate your support and look forward to working together to deliver on diverse needs across District 8.”

Another local seat without an incumbent is being decided in this election – Leslie Harris is leaving the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors after two terms. She represents District 6 (West Seattle and most of South Park); in the general election, all board seats are decided by a citywide vote, so that means we’re tracking four seats tonight. Here’s tonight’s first and only round of results:

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6
Gina Topp – 88,366 – 86.84%
Maryanne Wood – 12,946 – 12.72%

(updated) Here are the first results in the other three districts (asterisk marks an incumbent):

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 1
Liza Rankin* – 61,290 – 60.77 %
Debbie Carlsen – 38,919 – 38.59 %

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 2
Lisa Rivera Smith* – 68,870 – 68.00 %
Christina Posten – 31,995 – 31.59 %

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 3
Evan Briggs – 51,788 – 51.08%
Ben Gitenstein – 49,122 – 48.45%

One big ballot measure in this election – the renewal/expansion of the Seattle Housing Levy, which would collecdt almost $1 billion over seven years. Here’s tonight’s first and only round of results:

SEATTLE PROPOSITION 1
Yes – 74,078 – 65.98%
No – 38,196 – 34.02%

By this time tomorrow night, we’ll see the first round of election returns. So far in our area, the percentage of ballots received is up to just under 22 percent. The turnout so far is higher than it was with one day to go before the August primary – at that point, only 16 percent of ballots had been received. Another number of note – according to one of the ballot-return breakouts, by far the largest group to have turned in ballots so far is voters 65+ – more than twice the next highest group, 55-64. Reminder that you have only nine decisions to make:

Seattle Proposition 1 (Housing Levy)

Seattle City Council District 1

King County Council District 8

Seattle School Board Districts 1, 2, 3, 6

Seattle Port Commission Position 5

County Elections Director

Your ballot includes some uncontested races, too. For it to count, it has to be in a King County Elections dropbox – West Seattle has three – by 8 pm tomorrow, or in the USPS mail early enough tomorrow to be sure it’ll get a Tuesday postmark. Then we’ll get one round of results around 8:15 pm, and updates most weekday afternoons thereafter until the results are certified on November 28.

King County Elections is again posting frequently updated stats on how many ballots have been received. As of this afternoon – with exactly one week left to go – only 10.1 percent of ballots countywide are in, with the percentage slightly higher in our area (10.46 percent of voters in Seattle City Council District 1). That’s a lower percentage than at this point in the 2019 election, when 12 percent of D-1 ballots were in. As listed here earlier this month, you have nine decisions to make, and 8 pm Tuesday, November 7th, is the deadline to get your ballot into an official dropbox; send it earlier if you’re using USPS, because you need to ensure it’s postmarked by that date.

13 days left to vote; your ballot should have arrived by now.

EARLY VOTING: King County Elections is now updating stats on how many ballots have been received. As of right now, they have received 2,645 ballots from Seattle City Council District 1 (out of 74,329 registered voters). The leader right now is District 3 (Capitol Hill and vicinity, represented by outgoing Councilmember Kshama Sawant), with almost 4,000 ballots already returned. You should have received your ballot by now; if you haven’t – here’s what to do.

CANDIDATE FORUM: On Monday, D-1 candidates Rob Saka and Maren Costa had another side-by-side appearance, this time at the Senior Center of West Seattle, in a forum presented by Age-Friendly Seattle. Here’s our video of the event:

Tuesday, November 7th, is the deadline for voting. You can put your ballot in USPS mail or in an official KC Elections dropbox.

Your ballot likely has already arrived. You might even have voted already. If not – tomorrow (Monday, October 23) brings another opportunity to see the Seattle City Council District 1 candidates. Rob Saka and Maren Costa are scheduled to answer questions about topics of interest to older Seattleites during a forum presented by Age-Friendly Seattle. It’s set for 3 pm to 4:30 pm Monday at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). Registration isn’t mandatory but if you sign up here you can also submit a question for consideration and list the topics you’re most interested in hearing Costa and Saka address.

Ready to vote? Your ballot could arrive in USPS mail as soon as today (Thursday) and you can vote as soon as you get it. The King County Elections dropboxes open today – 3 in West Seattle (here’s the map). So here’s what you’ll be voting on – one levy, and 8 contested races (you’ll see some unopposed candidates on your ballot too)

Seattle Proposition 1 (Housing Levy)

Seattle City Council District 1

King County Council District 8

Seattle School Board Districts 1, 2, 3, 6

Seattle Port Commission Position 5

County Elections Director

Voting ends Tuesday, November 7th – the dropbox deadline is 8 pm, or get your ballot into the postal mail early enough that it’ll be postmarked no later than that date. (And if you haven’t registered to vote yet – it’s not too late.)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Voting begins this week in the general election, with three major open seats in our area – Seattle City Council District 1, King County Council District 8, and Seattle School Board District 6.

At its monthly lunch meeting this past Thursday, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce hosted two half-hour mini-forums with the candidates in two of those races. We’ve already published our coverage of the Q&A with the County Council candidates (see it here). Here’s what happened when City Council D-1 candidates Maren Costa and Rob Saka shared the stage to answer questions asked by local journalist/broadcaster, and Chamber board member, Brian Callanan. (The Chamber’s new executive director Rachel Porter made it clear first that the organization does not endorse candidates and was presenting this as an opportunity “for our business leaders to hear from those who wish to represent us.)

Below are brief summaries of the questions and responses; as with our usual coverage format for events like this, these are paraphrases except for any words/phrases inside quotation marks.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

While most of the local election-season spotlight has shone on the Seattle City Council District 1 race, two other major local positions are on the ballot, both also without incumbents. The candidates in one of those races, King County Council District 8, answered questions for half an hour at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly lunch meeting.

Burien Mayor Sofia Aragon and citywide Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda are the candidates for the seat that County Councilmember Joe McDermott is leaving. They answered questions asked by local journalist/broadcaster, and WS Chamber board member, Brian Callanan. We recorded the event on video:

From here down are our brief summaries of the questions and answers, starting with the introductory statements. These are summaries/paraphrases with the exception of anything you see in quotation marks.

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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

In just one week, ballots will be mailed out for the general election, and you can vote as soon as you get yours. The two West Seattleites contending in the highest-profile local race, Seattle City Council District 1, continue an intensive campaign schedule in the meantime, with another side-by-side Q&A forum Tuesday night.

This one was presented by Westside Interfaith Network, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the League of Women Voters, at OLG’s Walmesley Center, moderated by local journalist/broadcaster Brian Callanan (serving in a volunteer capacity). The questions for candidates Maren Costa and Rob Saka spanned a variety of topics; after an hour of asking questions planned by forum organizers, Callanan turned to audience questions submitted in writing during the event. (We counted about 40 people in attendance.)

Our video, unedited, starts and ends with the opening and closing statements from each candidate. Below it, we briefly summarize the questions and answers, in the order they were asked and answered.

Unless a phrase/sentence is within quotation marks, it’s our summary, not a direct quote, and we’ve kept our summaries to the portions of the replies that answered or attempted to answer the questions. For the full replies, watch the video.

Read More

Prior to tonight’s 7 pm forum at Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Seattle City Council District 1 candidates’ previous side-by-side West Seattle appearance was last Thursday, in a “Town Hall” Q&A organized by the Harbor-Alki Neighbors group. We weren’t able to be there, but a volunteer recorded it on video for the organizers, and the video has just become available for publication, so here it is for anyone who wasn’t there but wants to see how candidates Rob Saka and Maren Costa responded to the Harbor-Alki questions. (We do plan to cover tonight’s forum, which the Westside Interfaith Network and League of Women Voters are presenting, and will have video of that tonight or tomorrow.)

General-election voting starts in just a week and a half, as soon as your ballot arrives. If you haven’t yet settled on a candidate in the Seattle City Council District 1 race, you can see the contenders side by side again in West Seattle tomorrow night. At 7 pm Tuesday (October 10th), Rob Saka and Maren Costa will be back in the spacious Walmesley Center at Our Lady of Guadalupe (same place we had our forum two weeks ago), this time for a forum presented by the Westside Interfaith Network and the League of Women Voters. West Seattle broadcaster/journalist Brian Callanan will moderate. All are welcome. The venue is on the northeast corner of 35th and Myrtle.

General-election voting starts in less than three weeks. You have many decisions to make, and the top of the ticket is the Seattle City Council District 1 race between Maren Costa and Rob Saka.

(WSB photo, last Monday)

We presented a forum with them last Monday night; this week, you have two more chances to see them side by side in West Seattle:

TUESDAY (OCTOBER 3): Seattle CityClub and GSBA will present a District 1 debate in the Brockey Center at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), 7 pm, in-person and livestreamed. More info here, as well as a registration link which the sponsors say includes a chance to suggest a question.

THURSDAY (OCTOBER 5): The Harbor-Alki Neighbors’ Group has announced an in-person “town hall” with the candidates at 7 pm Thursday. The venue will be Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill):

Town Hall Q&A with Rob Saka and Maren Costa with emphasis on issues of specific importance to residents of Alki and Harbor Avenues, Alki Beach, and Beach Drive. The public is invited but space is limited. It is not required but registration is recommended: email diedrehaines@gmail.com. Potential questions can also be submitted in advance to the same email contact.

A livestream is not planned for this event, but it will be recorded on video for later viewing.

P.S. Those aren’t the last West Seattle forums for Saka and Costa – the next one after these will be October 10th at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

(WSB photo – Ladder 13 on a call last January)

Last year, when the City Council finished its budget work, we noted that it included Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s push to keep expanded Seattle Fire resources that were added during the bridge closure, Ladder 13 (added to Station 37 in Sunrise Heights) and Medic 26 (added to Station 26 in South Park). Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s original proposal then did not include them. But today, when the mayor unveiled his proposed budget adjustments for the coming year, it affirmed funding for the extra staffing – 24 full-time equivalents – required to keep those resources permanently. Here’s the mayor’s budget speech, given at “affordable high-rise” Blake House on First Hill (he starts speaking six minutes in):

You can read a summary of the budget toplines here. Several city departments have sent out their own lists of highlights. Regarding public safety, the mayor’s proposal notes:

With record-low numbers of police officers in 2023, the City must use technological support to boost the effectiveness of public safety strategies. Mayor Harrell is reinvesting $1.8 million of salary savings in the SPD into a new crime prevention pilot to implement automatic license plate readers, CCTV cameras, and acoustic gunshot locator systems to deter criminal behavior and hold offenders accountable. These technologies will be most successful when strategically integrated with SPD’s Real Time Crime Center to triage and coordinate patrol/emergency responses to crime events. These technologies will require an assessment to comply with the City’s surveillance ordinance and approval by the City Council.

There’s some hope for increasing those “record-low numbers” – the mayor said in his speech that applications for open police-officer jobs are at a two-year high, averaging 150 to 200 a month. Meantime, for housing and homelessness, the overview says you have a role to play:

2023 is the final year of the 2017 Housing Levy. The 2023-2024 Proposed Mid-Biennial Budget Adjustments assume passage of the proposed 2023 Housing Levy by Seattle voters in November 2023. Passage of the new levy would generate an estimated $88 million for affordable housing in 2024. When added to other funding sources, including $137 million from the Payroll Expense Tax, the proposed budget adjustments include $334 million for affordable housing in 2024, a 32% increase from the 2023 Adopted Budget.

And on transportation SDOT, meantime, would get $1.5 million more to fill potholes. But, according to this excerpt from the overview, some bridge maintenance would be deferred:

Facing reductions in bridge maintenance funding in the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) Fund, SDOT is prioritizing staffing investments now that can build SDOT’s capacity to implement complex bridge maintenance activities on improved timelines and realigning planned spending accordingly. REET budget and planning assumptions for the Bridge Painting and Structures Major Maintenance capital projects are reduced by $2 million in 2024 and $1.8 million in 2026, deferring some maintenance work in these projects. Even with these reductions, SDOT will meet maintenance work planning expectations without impacting service levels or commitments relating to any grant awards.

There’s a lot more in the mayor’s proposal, and City Councilmembers start digging into it when they meet as the Select Budget Committee tomorrow morning, 9:30 am – the agenda is here, including the slide decks that will be used for the overviews to be presented during this first of many budget meetings over the next month and a half.

As promised, we’ve uploaded video from our Seattle City Council District 1 candidates’ forum as fast as we could. Thanks to the ~40 people who braved the intense rain tonight to come see Maren Costa and Rob Saka respond to questions for an hour at the Senior Center of West Seattle. Most of the questions we asked were sent to us by WSB readers; thanks again to everyone who suggested questions. We’ll add written summaries of the Q&A sometime soon. Upcoming forums in West Seattle include:

OCTOBER 3: Seattle CityClub and GSBA will present a District 1 debate in the Brockey Center at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), 7 pm, in-person and livestreamed. More info here, as well as a registration link which the sponsors say offers a chance to suggest a question.

OCTOBER 5: The Harbor-Alki Neighbors’ Group has announced an in-person “town hall Q&A” with the candidates at 7 pm Thursday, October 5th. The venue will be Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill).

OCTOBER 10: Westside Interfaith Network and the League of Women Voters co-sponsor an in-person form at Our Lady of Guadalupe (35th/Myrtle), 7 pm.

OCTOBER 23: Age-Friendly Seattle forum at the Senior Center (4217 SW Oregon), 3 pm. Go here to register and suggest a question.

10:47 AM: Tomorrow night – Monday, September 25 – we’re presenting your next chance to see the candidates in two major races that’ll be decided in the general election. Voting starts in mid-October, so if you haven’t decided yet, it’s a good time to see the contenders side by side. At 6:30 pm, we’ll talk with County Council District 8 (West Seattle, White Center, Vashon/Maury Islands, Burien) candidates Teresa Mosqueda (current Seattle City Council citywide rep) and Sofia Aragon (current Burien Mayor). After a short break at 7, City Council District 1 (West Seattle, South Park, Georgetown, part of south downtown) candidates Rob Saka and Maren Costa (neither of whom has previously held elected office) are in the spotlight. This is at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction (4217 SW Oregon), and you are welcome to be there in person. We’re planning questions in advance, so if there’s something you’d like us to ask, please email it by tonight – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

7:06 PM: We just got word that one of the COUNTY Council candidates will be unable to attend in person, due to illness, so the first part of the night will have to be postponed to a TBA date. However, the CITY Council candidates are still a go – we’ll start their forum at 7 pm Monday.