2005 election filing, day 1

Today is the first day of five for candidacy filings across the state, for mostly county and city offices. As a service, i've chosen to cover the filings for major offices in the state's five most populous counties. Up to date information can be found at county auditor websites, most updating several times daily. Offices are nonpartisan unless otherwise noted.

King County
*County Executive: Incumbent Democrat Ron Sims has filed, and will soon be joined by anointed Republican David Irons and perhaps Green Party candidate Gentry Lange.
*County Council: Incumbent Republicans Kathy Lambert and Steve Hammond have filed, soon to be joined by many other incumbents and a handful of challengers.
*Seattle Port Commissioner: Incumbent Lawrence Molloy has a challenge from John Creighton on Day 1. Two other port positions are up for election this year.
*Bellevue City Council: Incumbent Connie Marshall, the acting mayor, has filed. Two other positions are up for election this year, including that of former Republican Congressional candidate Conrad Lee.
*Federal Way City Council: Incumbents Jeanne Burbidge (Pos. 4) and Linda Kochmar (Pos. 2) have filed, along with Pos. 6 candidate Dini Duclos. Duclos has the support of former Federal Way mayor and current moderate GOP legislator Skip Priest, as well as senior GOP county Councilman Pete von Reichbauer.
*Kirkland City Council: Incumbents Mary-Alyce Burleigh (Pos. 3) and Jim Lauinger (Pos. 5) have filed. Bob Sternoff has also filed, for position #2.
*Seattle Mayor: Incumbent Greg Nickels has filed, and is expected to walk to reelection due to lack of major competition.
*Seattle City Council: Three of four incumbents have filed on day one, with only Nick Licata failing to file today. No challengers have yet filed.
*Shoreline City Council: Acting mayor Ron Hansen has filed, and has a challenge from George Mauer. No other incumbents have yet filed.


Pierce County
*Tacoma Port Commission: Incumbents Connie Bacon, Dick Marzano, and Ted Bottiger are the only candidates to have filed.
*Lakewood City Council: Incumbent Pad Finnigan has filed for reelection to position #2. Newcomers Leslie Swalley (Pos. 1) and Paul Wagemann (Pos. 5) have also filed, as well as Paul Calta and Lisa Ikeda in position #3.
*Tacoma Mayor: Incumbent Bill Baarsma, who had two prospective opponents enter and drop out prior to filing, has filed. No major challengers are expected to run against the incumbent.
*Tacoma City Council: Incumbents Rick Talbert (fourth district) and Mike Lonergan (sixth district) are in, and Jake Fey has also filed for the open seat vacated by Kevin Phelps in the second district. Fey, who has the backing of several big-name area Democrats, including state Sen. Debbie Regala, has several other announced but not yet filed challengers.

Snohomish County
*County Council: Steve Hobbs (D) has filed for the fifth council district. The county Democratic Party endorsed former councilman Dave Somers for the position earlier this summer. The winner of the Democratic primary will face incumbent Republican Jeff Sax, who defeated Somers in 2001. Both Democrats have a pair of big-name endorsements, with Hobbs having the backing of County Executive Aaron Reardon and Snohomish Mayor Liz Loomis, and Somers being supported by US Rep. Jay Inslee and state Rep. Hans Dunshee. Democrat Marian Harrison has also filed in the first district to challenge incumbent Republican John Koster.
*Edmonds City Council: Second district incumbent Deanna Dawson has filed, along with Ron Wambolt in the third district and Strom Peterson in the first district.
*Everett Mayor: Incumbent Ray Stephanson has filed, and will likely be followed by City Councilman Ron Gipson into the race. Stephanson became mayor in a special election, and has the county Democratic establishment behind him.
*Everett City Council: Incumbents Paul Roberts (1st), Arlan Hatloe (3rd), and Drew Nielsen (5th) have filed, along with newcomer Charlene Rawson in the second district, who is challenging incumbent Mark Olson.

Spokane County
*County Assessor: Appointed Republican Ralph Baker will run to complete the term of Duane Sommers, a former legislator elected to the position in 2002. He has yet to file, but has been nominated by the county GOP. Baker ran unsuccessfully for county auditor that same year, losing to Democrat Vicky Dalton.
*Spokane City Council: Incumbent Al French has filed for the first district, the only seat which at this point has no challengers. Appointed incumbent Mary Verner (second district) has also filed, but is expected to face former Councilman Steve Eugster. Eugster is very controversial (and very liberal), and will be DOA for just about any race he runs in (he drew under 20% in a two-way race last year for County Superior Court). In the only open seat of the three, former Councilman Steve Corker leads the way, along with GOP-backed Nancy McLaughlin and liberal activist Judith Gilmore. Water fluoridation leader Joyce McNamee will likely enter the open seat contest later this week.
*Spokane Valley City Council: All seven districts will be up for election this year for the new city, with the four highest vote-getters serving four-year terms and the lower three serving two-year terms. Six of the seven incumbents have filed, with only Councilman Mike Flanigan not intending on running for reelection. Nearly all incumbents are known Republicans.

Clark County
*County Commissioner: Former GOP legislator Tom Mielke has filed to run against appointed Democrat Steve Stuart. Mielke ran a strong race against Betty Sue Morris last year, and should prove to make this a close race as well. Stuart was appointed to replace Craig Pridemore after he narrowly defeated moderate Republican state Sen. Don Carlson last year.
*Vancouver Mayor: Multi-term incumbent Royce Pollard has, in a huge shocker, filed for reelection. His margin of victory has declined the last several elections, but the real question might be if he'll have a challenger this time around.
*Vancouver City Council: Incumbents Jeanne Harris and Jeanne Stewart have filed, with Stewart having drawn opposition from Eric Olmsted and David Michael Heywood.