Evan Smith: Democrats easily keep firm hold on 32nd District
Friday, November 12, 2010
By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer
After 32nd District Democratic State Senate candidate Maralyn Chase won only 48 percent of the primary vote, and Democratic State House candidate Cindy Ryu won only 42 percent, both seemed to be in danger of being the first Democrats to lose in the District in 26 years.
Yet, general-election results show Chase defeating Republican David Baker, 60 percent to 40 percent and Ryu defeating Republican Art Coday 61 percent to 39 percent.
Why?
Some traditional Democratic voters who supported Patty Butler against Chase and Doris McConnell against Ryu in the primary came back to Chase and Ryu in the general election out of fear that votes for Baker and Coday could help give control of the Legislature to Republicans.
A month ago a letter writer on this web site who described himself as a longtime opponent of Chase said that he would vote for Chase because, among other reasons, there was a chance that Republicans could take control of the House.
Apparently, a lot of the Butler/McConnell supporters thought the same way. Baker and Coday both took about the same percentage of the vote in the general election as they had in the primary.
In the other House race, incumbent Democratic State Rep. Ruth Kagi leads Republican challenger Gary Gagliardi 65 percent to 34 percent.
The 32nd District includes Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Woodway, south Edmonds and unincorporated areas of both north King and south Snohomish counties.
Snohomish County had counted almost all ballots Wednesday afternoon, and King County had counted about 92 percent of its ballots. Both will continue to count new ballots arriving through certification Nov. 23. Those few ballots include ballots returned for signature verification and ballots from voters living or traveling overseas.
The Vote Count as of Wednesday afternoon:
LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 32
| Candidate | King County Votes | Snohomish County Votes | Total Votes | |
| STATE SENATOR | ||||
| Maralyn Chase (D) | 25,709….61.14% | 5,184….56.79% | 30,893….60.37% | |
| David Baker ® | 16,262….38.68% | 3,932….43.08% | 20,194.…39.46% | |
| Write-in | 77…...0.18% | 12…...0.13% | 89….…0.17% | |
| Total Votes | 42,048…100.00% | 9,128…100.00% | 51,176…..100.00% | |
| Undervotes | 2,590 | |||
| Total Ballots | 44,638 | |||
| Voter Turnout | 68.74% | |||
| STATE REPRESENTATIVE POSITION NO. 1 | ||||
| Cindy Ryu (D) | 25,727.…61.57% | 5,245….57.60% | 30,972…60.86% | |
| Art Coday ® | 15,962.…38.20% | 3,849…42.27% | 19,811…38.93% | |
| Write-in | 93...…0.22% | 12..…0.13% | 105…0.17% | |
| Total Votes | 41,782…100.00% | 9,106..100.00% | 41,590..100.00% | |
| Undervotes | 2,856 | |||
| Total Ballots | 44,638 | |||
| Voter Turnout | 68.74% | |||
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3 comments:
If Evan Smith means that the Democratic candidates, who won this election by landslide victories in the 32nd LD, had an easy ride to victory, he is very wrong.
Smith cites one Democrat who voted for Maralyn Chase, despite his long-time opposition to her, because he feared Republican capture of the House, and claims that this was the motivation of many others. Although for me that might be a strong motivation, Smith can’t possibly know that this is true for most.
Primaries are traditionally the sorting out process to determine which of several candidates of the same party the voters prefer, after which it is also the tradition to back whoever wins that contest.
Even though each of the Democratic winners is far better prepared to take on the challenges that face our state than any of their opponents, they were opposed by well-organized and well-financed campaigns, and it took hundreds of volunteers who gave their time for months on end, and the 32nd LD Democratic Organization, to make sure that the public was informed of what was at stake.
These talented women – Maralyn Chase, Cindy Ryu, and Ruth Kagi - also faced smear attacks from the anti-choice Family Policy Institute of Washington, which supported the three Republican male candidates. This organization is an affiliate of the Family Research Council, which was founded by James Dobson, who also founded Focus on the Family. All of these organizations represent extremist right-wing positions not only about women’s reproductive rights but also espouse hateful anti-LGBT “values”.
Of course, there were other major issues that set the Democrats apart from the Republicans, but the differences in the quality, experience, and knowledge of the candidates played a huge role in the outcome. And so did the 32nd Legislative District Democratic Organization.
Well said Wolf!
And Evan Smith needs to realize the incredible GOTV effort of Democrats locally and Statewide is what ensured the "firewall" in North King County held.
To say that the very small amount of votes by the Primary opponents to these Democrats made the ultimate outcome for Democrats, is just not correct by the numbers. Chase, Ryu and Kagi won by over 60%. That is a landslide by any measure. But it does not explain all the hard work it took to ensure this victory. And, to be clear there was little help from the camps of the primary challengers.
This is a victory for a United 32nd District Democrats and for Chase, Kagi and Ryu and their hard working campaigns.
When I said won "easily." I guess I should have said that the victories were "decisive."
For Chase and Ryu, the victories were a lot more decisive than I thought they would have been after neither got a majority in the primary, with neither of the losing Democrats in the primary publicly supporting Chase or Ryu and some Butler or McConnell supporters then supporting Republicans.
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