Veteran lawmakers vie for County Council seat

For more than a decade, voters have cast ballots for Democrat Mike Cooper and Republican Renee Radcliff-Sinclair.

They both served years in the state Legislature, and once before the veteran legislators actually faced off in the same race.

It appears it's time for a rematch.

The two are competing for an open seat on the Snohomish County Council in District 3.

Republican County Councilman Gary Nelson is wrapping up 12 years and term limits bar him from seeking a fourth term.

The candidates appear on the primary ballot, but the contest won't be decided until the November general election.

Even so, candidates say their diehard supporters will be among voters who do fill out the county's mail-in ballots despite the distractions of summer vacation.

"If people go to the trouble to vote in August, in the middle of summertime ... that's a base of votes we can expect in November," said Cooper, 55, of Edmonds.

It might show a base of votes, but won't telegraph the results of the general election, said Radcliff-Sinclair, 48, of Lynnwood.

"In the past, the primary was a great indicator of where people would be leaning in the general," Radcliff-Sinclair said. "I view the primary as far less valuable an indicator than it used to be."

The pair faced off in 1994, with Radcliff-Sinclair beating Cooper in a year Republicans won all over the country. Cooper became her seatmate in the Legislature two years later.

Radcliff-Sinclair quit the Legislature in 2000 for personal reasons. Cooper quit in 2004 to run for state lands commissioner but lost.

They both mounted modest comebacks by winning seats on the county charter review commission in 2005.

Cooper and Radcliff-Sinclair both say that population growth and traffic congestion are the top issues that voters want addressed by the council.

"We need to be taking a stronger role in congestion relief," said Radcliff-Sinclair, a former Everett business leader who works as a public relations director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Cooper is a former labor leader and retired firefighter. He is targeting development issues.

"A plan is needed to show whether taxpayers will pay higher taxes, or builders will pay higher fees," Cooper said.

The political flavor of council District 3 is in dispute.

Republican Gary Nelson served 22 years in the Legislature from the 21st District before his dozen years on the County Council.

Nelson is the last Republican serving from the southwest corner of the county.

Similarly, Radcliff-Sinclair's victory in 2000 was the last time a Republican was elected to the Legislature from that part of the county. She resigned soon after and the seat went to Democrats the next year.

Since then, Republicans haven't given voters a proper candidate with a strong campaign, Radcliff-Sinclair said.

That said, "being a Republican right now is weird." President Bush is unpopular, and congressional candidates lost big last year as a result, she said. "It's not the best of times."

She's hopeful: "I believe a Republican can win this seat."

Cooper said the district is staunchly Democratic.

"I think the issues people care about will tend to cause them to want to vote for Democrats, like the environment," Cooper said.

Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.