South County Politics: 32nd District State Senate candidates debate property taxes

The state property-tax level has become a major issue among State Senate candidates in the 32nd Legislative District. Voters have received their primary election ballots, which are due in the U.S. mail or ballot mailbox by Aug. 7. The top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation advance to the November general election. Democratic incumbent Maralyn…

South County Politics: PUD Commission candidates take varied approaches to campaign

Five candidates are running to represent the south county area on the Snohomish County Public Utility District Board of Commissioners. Each is taking a different approach to the campaign. Incumbent Kathy Vaughn of Lynnwood points to her experience from four six-year terms. One challenger, Fire Commissioner David Chan of Everett, cites his business and finance…

South County Politics: Monday voter registration deadline, PUD election

Monday, July 9, is the deadline for voters to register online or by mail for the Aug. 7 primary or for previously registered Washington voters to file a change of address. New Washington voters can register through July 30, but after Monday, July 9, they must register in person at the Snohomish County auditor’s office…

South County Politics: Ballot order turns ABC into GFX for PUD

The ABC alphabet will turn into a GFX alphabet for 2018 ballots. That’s for candidate order for PUD commissioner and other positions contained entirely within Snohomish County, like those in the 21st Legislative District, which includes most of Edmonds, unincorporated areas north of Edmonds and Lynnwood, the city of Mukilteo and part of south Everett….

South County Politics: Incumbent 1st Legislative District Democrats get two challengers each

Each of the 1st Legislative District’s two Democratic state representatives has two challengers on the Aug. 7 primary election ballot. Incumbent Democrat Derek Stanford will meet Republican Josh Colver, a 19-year-old Bothell resident, who calls himself a “liberty activist,” and Independent Colin McMahon, a public defender in Snohomish County. Democratic incumbent Shelley Kloba’s two challengers are Republican Debra Blodgett, chair of the Snohomish County Republican…

South County Politics: Primary in 32nd Legislative District will be competitive and expensive

Primary-election contests in the 32nd Legislative District will get lots of attention. That’s because Democrats are challenging each other in two races and because Republicans may have a hard time qualifying for the general election ballot in a Democrat-dominated district. The contests also will be expensive, with five Democratic candidates having combined to raise nearly…

South County Politics: Candidate filing is this week

Candidates file this week — from Monday, May 14, through Friday, May 18 — for offices on 2018 ballots. They can file online, by mail or in person at either the Snohomish County auditor’s office in Everett or the Secretary of State’s office in Olympia. Candidates who file with Snohomish County are those in districts…

South County Politics: Palumbo, Kloba, Kagi look back on productive legislative session

Democratic State Sen. Guy Palumbo and Reps. Shelley Kloba and Ruth Kagi describe the 2018 legislative session as productive. Palumbo and Kloba represent most of Mountlake Terrace, all of Brier and Bothell and the rest of the 1st Legislative District. Kagi represents part of Mountlake Terrace, along with Lynnwood, south Edmonds, Shoreline and the rest of the 32nd Legislative District. Palumbo’s comments:…

South County Politics: Two Democrats plan to seek Kagi’s position

Two Democrats have announced that they plan to seek the position that Democratic 32nd Legislative District Rep. Ruth Kagi will leave after 10 two-year terms in State House of Representatives. One is Shoreline City Council member Christopher Roberts, the 32nd District Democrats’ state committeeman, who expects to get support from that group. The other is…

South County Politics: Kagi, Ryu, other legislators change course on public records

State Reps. Ruth Kagi and Cindy Ryu, along with 39 other legislators, reversed course after an unpopular vote last week that would have exempted the legislature from state public records law. In addition, the two apologized for their votes for the original bill. After a public outcry, the legislators joined newspaper editorial boards across the…

South County Politics: Rep. Kloba’s legislative priorities; candidates for fall

Democratic State Rep. Kloba lists four 2018 legislative priorities Democratic State Rep. Shelley Kloba says she is emphasizing four objectives for the 60-day 2018 legislative session that started Jan. 8. She said in mid-January that she wants to work toward these four things: Leverage existing community resources to close the opportunity gap in education; Ensure that patients…

South County Politics: Legislators’ priorities for 2018 session

State Sen. Palumbo says Legislature needs to finish on time Democratic State Sen. Guy Palumbo says that the most important task for legislators during the 60-day legislative session that started Jan. 8 is to finish its work on time. “Our first priority is to get our job done on time and in the most transparent…

South County Politics: Legislators say capital budget tops other priorities

South Snohomish County Democratic state legislators say that passing a capital budget is at the top of a long to-do list now that Democrats will control both the State Senate and the State House of Representatives when the 2018 Legislature starts its 60-day session in January. Democrats took control of the Senate when a Democratic…

South County Politics: Legislative leadership, election turnout

Liias to be State Senate majority floor leader Democratic State Sen. Marko Liias, who has been Senate minority floor leader, will become majority floor leader when Democrats take control of the Senate in January. Democrats will have a 25-24 Senate majority because a Democrat won a special Nov. 7 election for a seat formerly held…

South County Politics: More takeaways from the Nov. 7 election

In addition to comments on the Tuesday, Nov. 7, general election that I posted last week, here are some more: Council race in Edmonds wasn’t close I expected the contest between Edmonds City Council incumbent Kristina Johnson and challenger Josh Thompson to be close. It wasn’t. Results posted Tuesday, Nov. 21, showed Johnson winning by…

South County Politics: Some takeaways from the Nov. 7 election

Results reported from the Nov. 7 general election give early answers to most of the questions that I raised last week. Here are some comments on the results of local elections around south Snohomish County with other comments coming next week: Incumbents, incumbents, incumbents Call it the great confirmation. South Snohomish County voters showed an…

South County Politics: Election storylines

Tuesday’s elections in Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace will answer several big questions. Here are some that I’ll be watching: Can Lynnwood’s mayor hold off a councilmember’s challenge? Can Lynnwood Mayor Nicola Smith hold off a challenge from City Councilmember George Hurst? Recent Lynnwood mayors have faced councilmember challenges with mixed results. Twelve years ago,…

South County Politics: Endorsements; advisory votes

Democrats in the 1st and 32nd legislative districts and the Snohomish County Democrats organization have endorsed candidates for city councils, school boards and other local non-partisan Snohomish County offices. The Snohomish County Republican web site lists endorsements for several cities around Snohomish County but not Mountlake Terrace or Brier. Here are Democrats’ endorsements: Wright gets only Democratic…

South County Politics: Registration deadline; fundraising

New Washington voters can register through Monday, Oct. 30 New Washington voters can register through 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, to vote in the Nov. 7 general election, but they must register in person at the Snohomish County auditor’s office in Everett. In-person registration is at Snohomish County Elections, County auditor’s office, 3000 Rockefeller Ave, Everett, First Floor, Administration Building West….

South County Politics: MLT council candidates; voters’ pamphlets

Introductory statements from MLT candidates Barnes and Ryan Mountlake Terrace City Council incumbent Rick Ryan and challenger Stephen Barnes recently sent statements introducing themselves to voters. Ryan and Barnes are running for one of four Mountlake Terrace council positions on the Nov. 7 general-election ballot. Here are the two candidates’ statements in the order that their names…