Shoreline Councilman Roberts to run for County Elections Director

By Evan Smith

Shoreline City Councilman Christopher Roberts has filed to run for King County elections director.

Our news partner, the Seattle Times, reported Monday that current Elections Director Sherril Huff had given up plans to run for a third term, citing personal and health reasons.

Roberts said Tuesday that he decided to run for the position once he heard that Huff wouldn't run.

He said that he is passionate about protecting the integrity of elections.

Roberts was the only candidate to file for the position through Tuesday. Clifford Greene, who ran against Huff in 2011, registered early this year with the state Public Disclosure Commission as a candidate for elections director, now has filed to run for a Federal Way city council position.

If three or more candidates file for the position it will appear on the August primary ballot with the top two vote getters advancing to the November general-election ballot. If only one or two candidates file, the position will appear only on the November ballot.

Roberts noted that he had been a teaching assistant for a class that dealt with the Federal Voting Rights Act when he was doing Ph.D. studies at the University of Washington.

He won election to the Shoreline Council in 2009 and re-election in 2013. He has held positions in the 32nd District Democrats and represented the district on the state Democratic rules committee, but he says that he has bipartisan roots, noting his work as an assistant to a Republican legislator in Oregon.

Updated 05-13-2015 7:13am