What You Need to Know About the August 5 Primaries

In just over two weeks, voters will be voting in this year’s primary, making important decisions about who will compete in November’s off-year elections, and registering a voters’ barometer on the moderate course of recent Seattle politics.

Outcomes of the Aug. 5 primary will offer clues to whether the electorate wants to continue with the city’s moderate approach or return to the left-leaning politics that governed the City Council during the era of post-George-Floyd and defund-the-police. Already there is the anti-establishment focus of The Stranger’s endorsements (Katie Wilson, not Mayor Harrell) versus the more chamber-friendly Seattle Times line-up (stick with Harrell).

In Seattle, voters will make critical decisions picking candidates for mayor, city attorney, two at-large council seats, and for the vacant District 2 position. City voters also will decide whether to continue the Democracy Voucher program. Vouchers have been a way for Seattle residents to make city-paid financial contributions to candidates they support in city elections. The program is funded by a voter-approved property tax, costing the average property owner about $8 a year. Approved ten years ago, the program has been admired around the country and even copied in two cities. Skeptics will wonder whether wily candidates have figured out a way to game the new system.

King County residents will pick candidates for County Executive, all nine council seats, and for the Port of Seattle, where three incumbent commissioners are running unopposed.

As for county exec, it’s an open race for the first time in 12 years. With three-term  incumbent Dow Constantine no longer in the running, prominent contenders include two councilmembers, Council chair Girmay Zahilay and former Bellevue Mayor Claudia Balducci. Previously in the running was King County Assessor John Wilson, who has since suspended his campaign under pressure.

The King County councilmanic races are mostly unopposed or left with a single challenger. Exception is the county council’s District 5 race, vacated when Dave Upthegrove was elected state lands commissioner; this race has attracted a half dozen contenders and the  appointed incumbent De’Sean Quinn.

In the Seattle mayor’s race, eight contenders have filed, including one name from the recent past: Joe Mallahan who once faced (and narrowly lost) to Mike McGinn. So far, Mallahan hasn’t stirred many memories or much backing. When it comes contributions, Mayor Bruce Harrell who is seeking an elusive second term, is closely grouped with challenger Katie Wilson of the Transit Riders Union. Wilson exceeds the mayor in the number of contributors, but Harrell stands to benefit from independent expenditures, business and labor backing.

The most contentious primary race is likely the contest for Seattle city attorney. Incumbent Ann Davison, who once ran for state office as a Republican, is falling behind three challengers in fundraising. She earned the Seattle Times’ endorsement, and is facing a promising newcomer, Erika Evans, who has accrued considerable support, including a Stranger endorsement, plus backing from former Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge, former city councilmember Andrew Lewis, and the state Democratic Central Committee. The race has also attracted two other challengers, Nathan Rouse and Rory O’Sullivan.

In her race for Seattle City Council position eight, incumbent Alexis Mercedes Rinck looks to have clear sailing with only four poorly-funded contenders. Meanwhile, City Council President Sara Nelson, who holds an at-large seat, is confronting Dionne Foster, another newcomer with strong support from left-of-center forces.

The race for the District 2 council seat finds voters choosing between two frontrunners, Stranger-endorsed Eddie Lin and Adonnis Ducksworth. The two are competing to serve out the unexpired term of councilmember Tammy Morales (now filled by Mark Solomon) when Morales chose not to run. Lin is an assistant city attorney working with the Office of Housing, while Ducksworth has served on Mayor Harrell’s staff as transportation and operations manager. Both candidates received backing from the Democratic Central Committee.

It’s unlikely that the Aug. 5 primary will signal a return to former Councilmember Kshama Sawant plague-on-both-your-houses attitude, since Sawant is running for Congress against Rep. Adam Smith. Even so, there may be some dimming of the moderate mood. Primary ballots are due to reach voters beginning July 18.