5:48 PM: Tomorrow, King County Elections certifies results of the August 1st primary. The two candidates advancing to the November 7th general in the Seattle City Council District 1 race will be Maren Costa and Rob Saka. Just out of the WSB inbox, five of the six candidates who aren’t advancing have sent an “open letter” saying they all are endorsing Costa:
An Open Letter to Seattle’s District One Residents,
We, the undersigned, Seattle City Council District One candidates, proud residents of West Seattle, passionate believers in the future of our great city, hereby endorse our one-time opponent Maren Costa to be the next Seattle City Council member representing District One.
We endorse Maren for the same reason we sought the office; we love Seattle and we want to see it thrive.
Over these intense past five months of campaigning, Maren has shown herself to be a serious, caring, quick study. Her growth on the campaign trail was evident to all of us. She found her voice in the truest sense. She learned how to be real in public, and we can attest, that is no small feat. At every forum, debate or community event, Maren was there – showing up with authenticity, humor and self-effacing charm. What you see is what you get; no “consultancy speak” – just Maren.
She has experience fighting for justice and a better world. She has management skills and a healthy dollop of guile gleaned in the cutthroat grind of high tech. She has the persistence and patience of a parent and a partner.
This group endorsement is more notable because some of us have non-trivial policy differences with Maren on some of the issues that dominated this campaign season. But, in spite of those differences, we believe Maren’s openness, transparency and candor make her more likely than her general election opponent to be a successful collaborator on the Seattle City Council.
Onward,
Phillip Tavel
Administrative Law Judge
Preston Anderson
LICSW, MPA
Stephen Brown
President, Eltana Bagels
Lucy Barefoot
Outreach Specialist, Office of the Secretary of State of Washington
Mia Jacobson
Longshoreman
We received the letter from Tavel, who says he is the group’s spokesperson (and we’re asking him a few followup questions). The only primary candidate not on the list is Jean Iannelli Craciun.
8:46 PM: First a note – we’ve corrected Tavel’s profession and first-name spelling, which were erroneous in what was originally sent to us. Meantime, we asked Tavel for a little more on how the group endorsement came about; he said he, Anderson, and Brown were talking post-election and agreed that they felt “District 1 would be in considerably better hands with Maren”; they invited the others to join them, including Craciun, who did not sign the letter, Tavel says, because “she had already endorsed Maren and… was the first to do so.” (Costa also says Craciun had previously endorsed her.) Meantime, Saka’s campaign has sent a news release reacting to the group endorsement, saying he “expressed his deep shock and dismay with the decision of his former opponents to endorse Costa, a move he believes contradicts the spirit of change and progress that their campaigns initially advocated for” and quoting him as calling the group endorsement a “political stunt.” … (added) Costa, meantime, told us when we asked for comment on the group endorsement, “I was quite surprised and thankful for my fellow candidates’ support. We all got to know each other quite well on the campaign trail. Good group.”
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