Elections certified: Major turnovers in local races

l-r Tom French, next Mayor of Lake Forest Park; Annette Ademasu, newest member of Shoreline City Council; Jon Culver elected to Kenmore City Council

King county has certified the results of the November 2023 general election, as has Snohomish county.

Locally, our elections were remarkable for the long-term, well-known incumbents who were defeated by challengers.

• LFP Mayor Jeff Johnson defeated by Tom French
• Shoreline Councilmember Doris McConnell defeated by Annette Ademasu
• Kenmore Councilmember David Baker defeated by Jon Culver

Mike Rosen, next Mayor of Edmonds
Susanna Johnson, Snohomish County Sheriff

Snohomish County incumbents had not been in office as long, perhaps 3-4 years.

• Edmonds Mayor Mike Nelson defeated by Mike Rosen
• Snohomish county sheriff Adam Fortney defeated by Susanna Johnson

Local races were notable for the number of incumbents who had no challengers. Effectively, they were reelected the moment that candidate filing closed.

As always, local races were also notable for the number of people who did not vote, i.e. "undervotes."

King County ballot returns

There are some good reasons for people who are registered but do not vote. People move out of the state and don't think to notify elections. People who are infirm, or ill. People who don't think they know enough about issues or candidates to make a choice.

People who figure the incumbent will win and doesn't need their vote. 

People who are so stressed and busy that the whole thing just got away from them. People who fill out their ballots early, put them on the desk and bury them in a stack of paper (you know who you are).

That leaves a lot of people that I have no excuses for.

Having said that, the turnout was better this year in some areas. The City of Kenmore had 40% turnout, which isn't bad compared to Shoreline's 34% - but Kenmore still had a council race that was decided by 70 votes.

Lake Forest Park has bragging rights with a 48% ballot return.

City of Kenmore - 15,656 registered -  6,289 ballots  40.17%

City of Lake Forest Park -  10,352 registered - 4,954 ballots  48.26%

City of Seattle -  480,980 registered - 220,938 ballots  45.93% (numbers from Prop 1)

City of Shoreline - 39,313 registered  - 13,326 ballots 33.90%

In Snohomish County, 

• Total Ballots Cast: 185,738 
• Registered Voters: 512,546
• Overall Turnout: 36.24%

Town of Woodway - 1045 registered voters - 499 ballots  47.75%

--Diane Hettrick