2005 election filing, day 2

Roll call...

King County
*County Executive: David Irons has officially filed, as has Michael Nelson, a Democrat challenging Ron Sims in the primary. I have yet to verify if this is the same man who lost the 2004 Libertarian primary for governor and the 2003 county council race to Dow Constantine.
*County Council: Democratic incumbents Carolyn Edmonds, Julia Patterson, and Dow Constantine have filed, along with Republican incumbent Jane Hague. Republican Orin Wells will be challenging Patterson in the fifth district, and Democrat Geni Hawkins will take on senior GOPer Pete von Reichbauer in the seventh district, once he files. That's whether Phil Fortunato does primary von Reichbauer or not.
*County Sheriff: Appointed Reichert replacement Sue Rahr has filed.
*Seattle Port Commission: In district three, Rich Berkowitz and Peter Coates have filed, and in district four, Jack Jolley and Richard Pope have filed. We all can thank Richard Pope for getting killed twice in a row by Chris Gregoire to give her something to run for governor on.
*Bellevue City Council: Incumbents Conrad Lee and Don Davidson have filed, with Lee being currently challenged by Vicki Orrico.
*Kirkland City Council: Tom Hodgson has filed in the seventh district.
*Kent Mayor: Suzette Cooke, Bruce White, and Judy Woods have filed. City Councilman Les Thomas will soon follow.
*Kent City Council: Mark Albertson (second district), Tim Clark (fourth district), and Russell Hanscom (sixth district) have filed.
*Seattle Mayor: Three small-time challengers have filed to challenge Greg Nickels today: leftist activist Christal Wood, the first to announce her intent to run for mayor; Chris Hoeppner, member of the Socialist Workers Party; and former Husky prof. Al Runte.
*Seattle City Attorney: Incumbent Thomas Carr has filed.
*Seattle City Council: Environmentalist Debbie Madenwald has formally filed her challenge to incumbent Richard Conlin. She boasts the support of current Land Commissioner Doug Sutherland (R) and former Gov. Booth Gardner (D). I might have been able to support her solely based on that, but then saw the A word plastered on the front page of her website (activist). In the fourth position, Angel Bolaños has filed to run against Council President Jan Drago. He had initially ran for the eighth position currently held by Richard McIver, but apparently wanted to skip out of that crowded field. Former Conlin opponent Casey Corr has also switched to face Drago, though has not formally filed. Democratic County Councilman Dwight Pelz has filed to run against McIver, and sixth seat incumbent Nick Licata has also entered the race.
*Shoreline City Council: Keith McGlashan (first position), Paul Grace (third position), and Bonnie Mackey (fifth position) have filed.

Pierce County
*Tacoma City Council: Second district candidate Carolyn Davidson has entered the race against Jake Fey. Denny Faker is also running for the position, but has yet to file.

Snohomish County
*County Council: First district incumbent John Koster has filed for reelection. Former Councilman Dave Somers (D) has entered the fifth district race to get his seat back from Jeff Sax. Somers, an avowed liberal, has to first get by the more centrist Steve Hobbs in the Democratic primary.
*Edmonds City Council: First district incumbent Michael Plunkett has entered his reelection race, already occupied by Strom Peterson. Bart Preecs has joined Ron Wambolt in the third district race, as well.

Spokane County
*Spokane City Council: First district incumbent Al French is being challenged by Tina Howard, but is easily the strongest candidate for any of the three council seats this year. French, a moderate who enjoys the support of much of both major parties, is expected to be reelected easily. In the third district, Joyce McNamee and Keith Springer have joined the pack for the open seat race. Despite being one of the more controversial members of the notably confrontational council of the late 1990s, Corker ought to have enough name recognition to win the primary. While it may not be intelligent to make predictions for wide-open, packed contests like this, right now i'd give the edge to Nancy McLaughlin for the other spot in the general election. She has the solid backing of the county GOP, and may be able to top the Democrat Corker in a general matchup, despite being one of the more liberal districts in the city.
*Spokane Valley City Council: Bill Gothmann has entered the race for the open sixth district, being vacated by Mike Flanigan. Second district incumbent Steve Taylor is being challenged by Jennie Willardson, the first incumbent to have a challenge so far. Taylor is an acquaintance of mine, and is a respectable and likable conservative. He already has the support of the county GOP, and would be very difficult to beat in the conservative City of Spokane Valley.

Clark County
Vancouver City Council: First district incumbent Pat Jollota has filed for reelection.

In other news, failed GOP Congressional candidate Dawn Courtney has filed for the State House from the 19th district. When moderate Democrat Brian Hatfield resigned after winning an unopposed election late last year, 19th district county commissioners nominated Cowlitz County Assessor Dean Takko to replace Hatfield. Because of the appointment, this is the only legislative race to be on the ballot this year. The district is solid Democrat, although they have lately elected moderates more often than liberals, as evidenced by Hatfield and state Sen. Mark Doumit.