Superior Court election close but outside mandatory recount range

Updated 11-26-2012 8:34pm

By Evan Smith

The one King County Superior Court contest on the general-election ballot is close, but probably just outside the range for a mandatory recount.

Challenger Sue Parisien led incumbent Judge Christopher Washington by 3,430 votes through Wednesday, with 354,129 votes for Parisien to 350,699 for Washington.

That’s a difference of 0.49 percent, within the 0.5 percent margin for a mandatory recount, but outside the additional requirement that the difference be less than 2,000 votes.

King County had about 1,800 uncounted balots on hand Wednesday, with a few hundred more expected to arrive at County elections headquarters before certification of results Tuesday.

Four other Court positions were decided in the primary, when one candidate won a majority for each position. The other 47 positions did not appear on either the primary or the general election ballots because each had only one candidate.

Washington was the only incumbent Superior Court judge to draw three opponents. Parisian led the primary with 46.7 percent to 25.2 percent for Washington, who had been plagued by poor bar ratings.

However, Parisian was charged during the general-Still Parisian now holds 50.24 percent of the November vote to 49.76 percent for Washington.