ELECTION RESULTS UPDATE: Sheriff-elect Johanknecht, commissioner-elect Calkins

Just after the wind started roaring this afternoon, another round of election results went public. Six days after the election, things are fairly well finalized. Of particular interest here, West Seattleite Mitzi Johanknecht (right) is King County Sheriff-elect; today’s results count widened her lead over incumbent Sheriff John Urquhart to more than 62,000 votes, and he is reported to have conceded. Another incumbent named John also has been ousted – Seattle Port Commissioner John Creighton, almost 22,000 votes behind Ryan Calkins. Only about 14,000 ballots remain to be counted countywide; turnout for last Tuesday’s election is measured at 41 percent. See the full results update here.

Jeannie November 13, 2017 (11:39 pm)

Great news about Calkins. He’s progressive, he cares about the environment, and he’s smart. From a Seattle Weekly endorsement:

“Incumbent John Creighton has a fairly impressive environmental resume, but when Shell barged into Puget Sound with its Arctic drilling platform in 2015, he was unwilling to stand against dirty energy. Calkins, on the other hand, says he would have said Shell No, and we believe him. No candidate for Port Commissioner has been so precise in his opposition to the Port’s potential role in fossil-fuel extraction. “I will vote No on any effort to lease Port facilities to fossil-fuel-extracting equipment,” Calkins says.

gxnx November 14, 2017 (6:59 am)

Why is the Port of Seattle getting $$$$ from our property tax? All ports in US don’t receive that kind of money from the taxpayers.

What have they don’t lately to improve the SeaTac airport?

Why is a bottle of water costs $2.99 at the airport , you can buy a case of 24 at Walmart.

Those working at the Port are the highest paid….
- Rico November 14, 2017 (7:51 am)
  
  The Port of Seattle is simply the most expensive, biggest scam in the area, one that no news organization has ever been willing to look into. Maybe WSB is willing??
  
  Just look at all of the property owned by the port with high paying tenants. And they receive tax funds. I have heard that it is the only west coast port that is not self sufficient, can anyone confirm is this is true. I suppose the tax money is needed to pay for all the junkets and salaries of those tough Port commissioner jobs.
KM November 14, 2017 (8:06 am)

Also happy about Calkins! Bummed we couldn’t flip Position 3.
- Jon Wright November 14, 2017 (11:46 am)
  
  I was sort of discouraged that while the white guy who challenged an incumbent prevailed, the people of color running did not. Interestingly, about 6,000 fewer people weighed in on the Creighton/Calkins race than either the Bowman/Abdi or Shridhar/Steinbrueck contests. That wasn’t statistically significant–only about 1% of the votes cast–but given the relative anonymity of Port commissioners, I wonder if it is symptomatic of people voting based solely upon the sound of the name.
  - KM November 14, 2017 (12:43 pm)
    
    My spouse mentioned the same concerns you have stated, and I hadn’t looked into the numbers, so thanks for providing. I find it a bit discouraging as well.
  - Rusty November 14, 2017 (9:20 pm)
    
    Jon, think about what you wrote. If, when you flip it around, it sounds racist – that’s because it is. I would hope that the candidates are judged and succeed/fail on their merits and character instead of what they look like or how their name sounds.

Bradley November 14, 2017 (1:40 am)

I’m a proud “Trumpublican” who voted for Mitzi instead of the corrupt incumbent. He was in favor of injection sites (opium dens) and was pitting his deputies against federal law when it comes to ICE. I believe the rape allegations against him. He’s dirty. Mitzi seems like she’ll put public safety first. She had me at “I’m against safe-injection sites and my opponent is for them”.

The King November 14, 2017 (4:27 am)

Same here, I fall in the Libertarian category and honestly thought I was wasting a vote on Mitzi. Unlike Urquhart she seems like a follower of rules. It seemed like a time for a change in the establishment and I hope she does well.
Wes C. Addle November 14, 2017 (9:10 am)

I’m not against the “opium dens” as you call them. I’m more against opium parks and bus shelters. If you’ve been to Vancouver BC lately you’ll notice fewer druggies out on the street, mainly due to safe injection sites.
- Bradley November 14, 2017 (12:35 pm)
  
  The Greater Vancouver area has twice as many heroin deaths as the our entire King County. Also, the areas where their injection sites are located are open-air drug, burglary, and assault markets. Vancouverites die of heart attacks, strokes, and accidents waiting for ambulances that are busy treating the several-times-a-day overdoses at the “safe” sites.