ELECTION 2023: Third round of Seattle City Council District 1 results

The newest numbers from Tuesday’s election are just out. Here’s how the top three contenders for Seattle City Council District 1 are doing now:

Maren Costa 8,363 32.95 %
Rob Saka 6,143 24.20 %
Phil Tavel 5,130 20.21 %

In short – Costa’s percentage has risen, while Saka’s and Tavel’s have fallen. This is with (corrected) 34.8 percent of D-1 voters’ ballots counted, up from 25 percent yesterday; as of mid-afternoon today, King County Elections says it’s received 36.4 percent of D-1 voters’ ballots. (That’s just a fraction of a percentage more than yesterday, so from hereon out it’s a daily trickle of new ballots.) Next update, Friday afternoon.

Jimmy August 3, 2023 (4:24 pm)

Yaaay. . Maren Costa = Lisa Herbold v2. Maybe they’ll finally get to chase our biggest employer Amazon out of Seattle for good.

CAM August 3, 2023 (6:44 pm)

What makes you think Maren isn’t supportive of big business? She worked at Amazon for years and didn’t leave because she had moral qualms about working for big business. She worked within the company to change corporate policies to improve working conditions and company practices for the betterment of employees and the rest of the city. That isn’t anti business. It actually helps sustain business and keeps them viable.
- Jsbm August 3, 2023 (7:49 pm)
  
  @CAM: Just heard an NPR piece interviewing her this morning and she shared a different perspective about her parting with Amazon, it sounded amicable than your thoughts. But she didn’t say anything to imply she disfavors them either…
  - CAM August 4, 2023 (12:48 am)
    
    She didn’t leave Amazon on amicable terms. She was fired and sued them for unlawful termination. But she also hasn’t dedicated her life to working for nonprofits or human services agencies. So this idea that she’s anti big business is pure conjecture.

West Seattle Mad Sci Guy August 3, 2023 (4:41 pm)

The 36.4 % of ballots received seems obviously from ballots mailed or number of people registered.Is there a stat known to you of how many eligible adults are registered?Just curious what % of eligible adults voted. Apparently 36.4% of registered voters voted and it pains me to think of the fraction of eligible adults are registered may make the % of people who voted even more depressingly smaller 😂

WSB August 3, 2023 (6:09 pm)

Taking the 2020 Seattle population estimate – 630,174 people 18 and up, therefore, voting age – and dividing it by the total number of people who were registered at this election in all seven districts, 480,087 – calculator says that equals 76 percent of all eligible 18-and-up Seattleites are registered to vote.
- Peterson August 3, 2023 (10:41 pm)
  
  480K registered out of 630K Seattle residents. 76% is off unless it’s accounting for non-US citizens who are residents but not registered voters.
  - WSB August 4, 2023 (9:53 am)
    
    480K is 76 percent of 630K oer multiple calculators. And that’s not “630K Seattle residents,” that’s “630K residents of voting age.”
  - WSB August 4, 2023 (10:40 am)
    
    I tried another calculator. 480 is 76 percent of 630. And that’s *630K residents of voting age* in the city (18 and up).

Greg August 3, 2023 (5:01 pm)

Must be voter fraud. According to the comments on this blog, Tavel or Saka should be ahead by double digits.

WTF August 3, 2023 (6:08 pm)

Agreed. I don’t get this at all. She is not impressive and has little personality. I really hope she doesn’t win.
- CAM August 3, 2023 (6:40 pm)
  
  If you aren’t impressed by Maren Costa’s accomplishments I’d hate to have to live up to your standards. You may not like her ideas but she is an extremely accomplished person who is very qualified to be on the city council. Maybe I should wait here for someone to come running out demanding you personally apologize for maligning her…
- Josh August 3, 2023 (7:49 pm)
  
  I don’t care if my councilmember has a personality or not. I care about their platform positions and record. Among the top 3 she is far and away the best mix of qualified, having explicit positions that she can express and support, and having a record of caring about people other than herself. I will be voting Costa in the general.
- Jort August 3, 2023 (8:07 pm)
  
  Hmmm…. I wonder what it is about Maren Costa that makes people think that “personality” is important. Hmmmmmm …. What could it be? Hmmmmm….. if I could just put my finger on it ….. hmmmmmm
- Mike August 4, 2023 (9:21 am)
  
  Greg must be thrilled, he threw some bait into the water and got a bite almost immediately.
CAM August 3, 2023 (6:41 pm)

I will laugh at your obviously sarcastic comment, Greg.
- Greg August 4, 2023 (9:57 am)
  
  Thanks CAM, I’m glad someone got it.
Marcus August 4, 2023 (7:26 am)

Voter fraud—-that is a bunch of bunk! Just because the vote did not go as one would want or expect, the voter fraud excuse is just the common phrase for losers. I trust the voting integrity of our system and that term should not be used without firm evidence. Only weak losers use that term.
Kt August 4, 2023 (8:47 am)

More likely the two trailing candidates have supporters who are active blog commenters

Libra August 3, 2023 (5:47 pm)

Shocked since I agree that Costa will just be another Herbold! Will we see a geographical breakdown of the vote tally within the district?

WSB August 3, 2023 (6:03 pm)

KC Elections usually releases the precinct breakdown of the first night’s vote by week’s end. We do not have a data mapper on staff, I’m sorry to say, but generally The Times turns around a map before too long.
JunctionResident August 4, 2023 (10:29 am)

I assume nearly all the Tavel votes will go to Saka and most of the Anderson and Brown votes will go to Saka in the general as well. I think Saka will win come November.

Scarlett August 3, 2023 (7:54 pm)

Seattle is a company town and no one is going to “rock that boat.” The only difference between so-called progressives and so-called conservatives stance in regard to Amazon is that one demands that Amazon share a little more of their loot with the hometown crowd.

Wseabereal August 3, 2023 (10:58 pm)

Let’s be real – Costa is still living off amazon money. You can’t have it both ways. I appreciate anyone willing to step up and run for office, but I also appreciate transparency. Saka + Tavel > Costa. The voters are sending a message even in the primaries.
- Scarlett August 4, 2023 (10:19 am)
  
  I didn’t mention Costa, or any other candidate for that matter. For me, this is all re-arranging the deck chairs. Like many other affluent “blue” enclaves, progressives and conservative are much alike than they care to admit. The only difference is that Seattle has obtuseness and evasiveness (you never know what someone is really thinking) down to a fine art.

PDiddy August 3, 2023 (9:51 pm)

Man if we ever needed that ranked choice vote its now.

Del August 3, 2023 (11:07 pm)

We don’t need an other activist who also got fired for supposed ‘activism’ on the city council 🙈 ugh… please vote district 1!!!

OhWell August 3, 2023 (11:41 pm)

Crime will not get better under Costa

Derek August 4, 2023 (12:14 pm)

Under capitalism*

Tom August 4, 2023 (5:27 am)

She is really focused on climate change and that’s her passion, only in the last few months has she started talking about other issues (public safety, homelessness, affordable housing). Go back and read her 1st intro on the blog. She got fired from Amazon for trying to create a union , that went against the company. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in good work conditions. Maybe she tried collaborating, it doesn’t come across in the story. Great she stood up to a large company but she has no other relevant public service experience. I’m worries she will get the role and primarily focus on her passion, climate change, and all the other pressing issues will fall by the way side.

Catgirl August 4, 2023 (11:02 am)

Climate change is the most important issue facing us right now. Yes, there are a lot of other important issues, but none of them will matter if the planet becomes uninhabitable.
- Danimal August 4, 2023 (2:18 pm)
  
  Climate change is not an issue that can be effectively managed at the local level, nor should local governments try to do that. The issue needs to be legislated at the federal level, so that municipalities can focus on the every day issues that plague them. It’s pointless to try to set an example as a local government when everyone around you may or will not follow suit. You just end up wasting time and money while other issues fester. It’s not great, but pragmatically, it’s the truth. Activism is great, but things get managed more effectively when pragmatism is considered at the local level.
- Mike August 4, 2023 (9:35 pm)
  
  Make sure you voice that to Xi and Lula, because those are the two people in charge of the two most prolific countries causing climate change right now. Deforestation in the Amazon is literally at the core of global climates shifting, China is the number 1 biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and runs unregulated.

Alki resident August 4, 2023 (8:20 am)

The Seattle Times asked candidates if they supported adopting the new state drug law and prosecuting public drug use. Maren said “No”. She’s another Herbold! Saka and Tavel said “Yes”. We need someone who will put our city first and enforce the laws. It’s not Costa.