The biggest surprise of course is that Edgar, who attempted to withdraw from the race, beat incumbent Shaw by over 21%.

Here are Thursday’s totals:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 8346 / 22405 37.25%

Council Position No. 2

• Lucy Krakowiak 4660 64.12%
• Greg Duff 2585 35.57%
• Write-in 23 0.32%

Council Position No. 4

• Bob Edgar 4333 60.39%
• Gordon M. Shaw 2815 39.23%
• Write-in 27 0.38%

Council Position No. 6 short and full term

• Debi Wagner 3278 45.79%
• Jerry Robison 3859 53.90%
• Write-in 22 0.31%

NECK AND NECK IN NORMANDY PARK
Incumbent Shawn McEvoy has extending his lead over challenger Todd McKittrick to 58 votes, while Stacia Jenkins holds on to her lead over Charlie Harris by 19:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 2297 / 4681 49.07%

Council Position No. 3

• Todd McKittrick 1010 48.37%
• Shawn McEvoy 1068 51.15%
• Write-in 10 0.48%

Council Position No. 5 short and full term

• Charlie Harris 1008 49.39%
• Stacia Jenkins 1027 50.32%
• Write-in 6 0.29%

HORSE RACE IN DES MOINES
As if to prove the old adage ‘never count your chickens before they’re hatched,’ Thursday’s returns shows that Mayor Bob Sheckler, who was down by 31 votes on Wednesday, is now in the lead over challenger Rebecca King by 17 votes.

Jeanette Burrage and Dan Caldwell are clear winners, and Proposition No. 1 is toast:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 5971 / 14805 40.33%

Council Position No. 2

• Jeanette Burrage 3175 61.94%
• Carri Litowitz 1918 37.42%
• Write-in 33 0.64%

Council Position No. 4

• Dan Caldwell 2776 55.80%
• Dave Markwell 2175 43.72%
• Write-in 24 0.48%

Council Position No. 6

• Rebecca King 2546 49.65%
• Bob Sheckler 2563 49.98%
• Write-in 19 0.37%

Proposition No. 1 Utility Occupation Tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets

• APPROVED 2117 37.28%
• REJECTED 3562 62.72%

The early returns of Tuesday’s General Election results are in, with one-time ‘non-candidate’ Bob Edgar leading incumbent Gordon Shaw by nearly +20%, Lucy Krakowiak beating Greg Duff by over +28% and Jerry Robison edging Debi Wagner by just 8.45%.

Of course, these are all early returns, with 6,022 ballots of 22,405 counted – nearly 27% of all votes counted.

Results will be updated daily, and we’ll monitor them for any changes.

Final results will be posted Nov. 30th.

Here are the initial returns:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 6022 / 22405 26.88%

Council Position No. 2:

• Lucy Krakowiak 3393 64.03%
• Greg Duff 1886 35.59%
• Write-in 20 0.38%

Council Position No. 4:

• Bob Edgar 3123 59.74%
• Gordon M. Shaw 2080 39.79%
• Write-in 25 0.48%

Council Position No. 6:

• Debi Wagner 2379 45.60%
• Jerry Robison 2820 54.05%
• Write-in 18 0.35%

CITY OF NORMANDY PARK

In Normandy Park’s contested council races, incumbent Shawn McEvoy is edging challenger Todd McKittrick by just 8 votes, and Charlie Harris leads Stacia Jenkins by 6.

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 1561 / 4681 33.35%

Council Position No. 3

• Todd McKittrick 705 49.47%
• Shawn McEvoy 713 50.04%
• Write-in 7 0.49%

Council Position No. 5 short and full term

• Charlie Harris 704 50.11%
• Stacia Jenkins 698 49.68%
• Write-in 3 0.21%

CITY OF DES MOINES

In Des Moines, Mayor Bob Sheckler is trailing challenger Rebecca King by 27 votes, while Jeanette Burrage and Dan Caldwell are leading, and Proposition No. 1, a proposed tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets, is being soundly rejected:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 4294 / 14805 29.00%

Council Position No. 2:

• Jeanette Burrage 2280 61.04%
• Carri Litowitz 1425 38.15%
• Write-in 30 0.80%

Council Position No. 4

• Dan Caldwell 2013 55.53%
• Dave Markwell 1592 43.92%
• Write-in 20 0.55%

Council Position No. 6

• Rebecca King 1869 50.12%
• Bob Sheckler 1842 49.40%
• Write-in 18 0.48%

Proposition No. 1 Utility Occupation Tax for Des Moines Beach Park and Streets:

• APPROVED 1509 36.91%
• REJECTED 2579 63.09%

HIGHLINE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 401

In the contested Highline School Board Director race, Tyrone Curry, Sr. is leading Sili Savusa by over +10%:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 15627 / 56914 27.46%

Director District No. 1

• Tyrone Curry, Sr. 6824 54.89%
• Sili Savusa 5510 44.32%
• Write-in 99 0.80%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT NO. 8

In the King County Council race, it looks like incumbent Joe McDermott is running away with it, holding a +34% lead over Diana Toledo, with 66.92% over her 32.7%:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 28552 / 110132 25.93%

Metropolitan King County Council District No. 8

• Joe McDermott 16848 66.92%
• Diana Toledo 8233 32.70%
• Write-in 95 0.38%

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN SEWER DISTRICT

In the race for the Southwest Suburban Sewer District, incumbent Scott Hilsen is leading Dan Johnson by over 24%.

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 8783 / 31568 27.82%

Commissioner Position No. 1

• Dan Johnson 2616 37.69%
• Scott Hilsen 4287 61.76%
• Write-in 38 0.55%

We’ll post more updates as they come in, so stay tuned…

The early returns of Tuesday’s Primary Election results are in, with a couple of surprises, including a six-percent lead by ‘non-candidate’ Bob Edgar over incumbent Gordon Shaw for Burien’s City Council Position No. 4.

As many of our Readers may recall, Edgar withdrew from the race on June 20th, too late to be removed from voter’s guides (read our coverage of that here). We find it very interesting that a ‘non-candidate’ who withdrew from the race, spent no money, had no yard signs, didn’t campaign, failed to show up for our candidates forum, etc. is winning over an incumbent.

Current Councilmember Lucy Krakowiak holds a commanding lead for Position No. 2, with nearly 48% against nearest competitor Greg Duff’s nearly 27% – a 21% lead.

Of course, these are all early returns, with just over 20% of all ballots counted, and since this is a Primary Election, the top two vote-getters in each race will advance to the Nov. 8th General Election.

The “real horserace” is currently between Greg Duff and Ed Dacy, with Duff leading by just 103 votes, or 2.44%.

CITY OF BURIEN

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: *4,534 / 22,330 / 20.30%

Council Position No. 2:

• Greg Duff 1,135 26.91%
• Ed Dacy 1,032 24.47%
• Lucy Krakowiak 2,024 47.98%
• Write-in 27 0.64%

Council Position No. 4:

• Gordon M. Shaw 1,601 38.63%
• Joey Martinez 650 15.69%
• Bob Edgar 1,851 44.67%
• Write-in 42 1.01%

In the King County Council race, it looks like incumbent Joe McDermott is running away with it, holding a nearly 40% lead over Diana Toledo, with 67.07% over her 27.23%.

METROPOLITAN KING COUNTY

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 22809 / 110649 / 20.61%

County Council District No. 8:

• Joe McDermott 14,222 67.07%
• Goodspaceguy 1,094 5.16%
• Diana Toledo 5774 27.23%
• Write-in 114 0.54%

In other election issues, it looks like Proposition No. 1, the Veterans and Human Services Levy, is easily passing with 66.25% approved:

KING COUNTY

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 208833 / 1094533 / 19.08%

Proposition No. 1: Veterans and Human Services Levy:

• APPROVED 134,509 66.25%
• REJECTED 68,534 33.75%

Final results of the Primary Election will be posted on Aug. 31st, with daily updates at 4:30 p.m. at the King County Elections website.

UPDATE 11/3/10: Here are Wednesday’s (Nov. 3rd), King County Elections returns for Tuesday night’s general election:

Keep in mind that these are still preliminary results, and the final, certified tally won’t be released until Nov. 23rd.

In the State Rep., District 34, Position #2 race, with 39.35% of ballots counted, early returns show Joe Fitzgibbon stretching his lead from 54.8% to over 55%:

• Joe Fitzgibbon (Prefers Democratic Party): 13,664 • 55.13%%
• Mike Heavey (Prefers Democratic Party): 10,831 • 43.70%
• Write-in: 288 • 1.16%

In the King County Council race, with 37.98% of ballots counted, Joe McDermott looks like a winner with 67.84%:

• Joe McDermott: 24,032 • 67.84%
• Diana Toledo: 11,268 • 31.81%
• Write-in: 122 • 0.34%

For the 9th Congressional race, Adam Smith leads Dick Muri by a margin of nearly 59% to 41%:

• Adam Smith (Prefers Democratic Party): 34,028 • 53.92%
• Richard (Dick) Muri (Prefers Republican Party): 23,954 • 41.24%

In the King County Judge, Position No. 2 race, challenger Susan Mahoney has a commanding lead of 69.82% over the controversial Judge Judith Eiler:

• Susan Mahoney: 25,815 • 69.82%
• Judith R. Eiler: 10,965 • 29.65%
• Write-in: 196 • 0.53%

Results can change of course depending on which areas get counted when, and we’ll be posting updates as they are released by the county.

And Patty Murray is still ahead of Dino Rossi:

United States Senator:

• Patty Murray (Prefers Democratic Party): 801,188 • 50.79%
• Dino Rossi (Prefers Republican Party): 776,324 • 49.21%

County officials are estimating a total election return of about 720,000 ballots, or 68% of registered voters, and the numbers coming in are consistent with expectations.

To see other results, check out the King County Elections Results page here.

If you have yet to mail your ballot in, you can still drop it off until midnight tonight at the Riverton Heights Post Office (located at 15250 32nd Avenue South Seatac, WA 98188-9996 – (206) 241-7061).

King County Elections released an update for Tuesday’s election results, and it looks like Proposition 1, the King County Library System “Library Levy,” has increased its “Yes” lead to 2.26%, up from just over 1%; as of 4:15pm Wednesday, Feb. 10th, the totals are:

KING COUNTY RURAL LIBRARY DISTRICT:

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters:
200,780/647,133 31.03%

Proposition No. 1

• YES: 101,858 • 51.13%
• NO: 97,344 • 48.87%

We’ll post further results as they are released (usually weekdays around 4pm), and the final tally won’t be official until Feb. 24th.

The language for Prop. 1, according to the Voter’s Pamphlet:

The Board of Directors of the King County Rural Library District adopted Resolution No. 2009-11 concerning an increase in the District’s regular property tax levy. In order to provide continued funding for the normal operation and maintenance of the King County library system, this proposition would authorize the District to restore regular property tax levy rate to $0.50 per thousand dollars of assessed value for collection in 2011, and to increase the levy in each year thereafter as allowed by chapter 84.55 RCW. Should this proposition be approved?

It’s Election Night in Washington, the mailed votes are being counted, and, as of 8:12pm, the totals for Proposition 1, the King County Library System “Library Levy,” were:

KING COUNTY RURAL LIBRARY DISTRICT

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: * 182002 / 647133 28.12%
Proposition No. 1

• YES: 91,215 50.51%
• NO: 89,359 49.49%
  

We’ll post further results on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 10th), and the final tally won’t be official until Feb. 24th.

The language for Prop. 1, according to the Voter’s Pamphlet:

The Board of Directors of the King County Rural Library District adopted Resolution No. 2009-11 concerning an increase in the District’s regular property tax levy. In order to provide continued funding for the normal operation and maintenance of the King County library system, this proposition would authorize the District to restore regular property tax levy rate to $0.50 per thousand dollars of assessed value for collection in 2011, and to increase the levy in each year thereafter as allowed by chapter 84.55 RCW. Should this proposition be approved?

Lots of interesting news this last week in the Burien area, from Day of the Dead to Election Day to the Day of a Massive Police Response in Tukwila and more.

Here are the stories we covered between Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, 2009:

Jack Block Jr. with Manuela Horn, Burien's 6'2" "Yodeling Dominatrix" (photo from www.jackblockjr.com)

by Ralph Nichols

Jack Block Jr. declared victory late Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 4th) in his race for election to the Burien City Council.

Block, who served on the City Council from 2003 to 2007 and then made an unsuccessful bid for election to the Port of Seattle Commission, challenged first-term incumbent Councilwoman Sue Blazak for her Position 1 seat.

After Wednesday’s update was posted by King County Elections (with Block at 55% and Blazak at 45%), she said of her chances to overcome his lead of almost 10 percent, “It doesn’t look good.”

Blazak, who has served as deputy mayor for the past two years, indicated that she would call Block later in the day to congratulate him.

“I want to thank the voters of Burien for their confidence in me, and I will work hard to fulfill their expectations,” Block said.

With Wednesday’s update, Block now has 2,413 votes (54.61%). Blazak has 1,981 votes (44.83%). There was virtually no change in the gap between them from Tuesday’s initial vote.

Mayor Joan McGilton and Councilwoman Rose Clark, along with Brian Bennett, who will replace retiring long-time Councilwoman Sally Nelson, were not opposed in their election bids.

Soundly defeated was Proposition 1 on Burien’s ballot to create Transportation Benefit District No. 1, which would have funded sidewalks, curbs, bike paths and trails with a $25 motor vehicle license tab fee.

With Tuesday’s update, the transportation district proposal was going down to defeat by a 76.23 percent margin (3,647 votes) to 23.77 percent (1,137 votes).

Sue Blazak

Blazak was also a leading advocate for the transportation district.

Block said he “worked hard on the campaign and that’s reflective of what I’ll do in office.”

The city, he continued, needs “to refocus energy on being more active. We need to re-energize our community. There is a growing apathy and we need to engage our citizens to become more involved.”

As an example, Block noted that only one City Council race in Burien was contested this year, adding that more citizens need to run for office and work on city programs.

“Without that, we won’t grow and prosper as a community,” he said.

Block also wants the city to do more to “involve all of our citizens” in the community. The Nov. 1 “Day of the Dead celebration shows what can be done” to get various ethnic groups involved. “We need to do more of this.”

On the question of annexation, he said the city “botched the job” when it failed to take advantage of “an excellent bargaining position” to get funding from King County for capital projects in North Highline as part of the process.

Block said he will insist on this if there is any move by Burien to annex the rest of the North Highline unincorporated area.

Blazak attributed her loss to the fact that “he sent out three mailers and I sent out one. And he had a lot more yard signs out there.” [EDITOR'S NOTE: Jack Block Jr. also advertised on The B-Town Blog; Blazak did not.]

The proposition for a transportation district was defeated because “we didn’t inform the public well enough,” she added. I think it’s a great idea … when I talked to people they were usually pretty supportive. I hope we try again.”