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<< Previous   of   Next >> Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Snohomish County Council District 2 candidate Brian Sullivan (left) celebrates his lead Tuesday evening with wife Debbie Sullivan (second from left) and supporters Diana Phillips and Todd Nichols.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Sullivan winning county race By Jeff Switzer, Herald Writer EVERETT -- State Rep. Brian Sullivan appears one step closer to winning an open seat on the Snohomish County Council after election night returns showed he has a strong lead over state Sen. Jean Berkey in the Democratic primary. Also, the field was narrowed in a three-way race for county clerk as Sonya Kraski and Bob Dantini looked to be advancing to the general election. County elections workers tallied about 66,000 ballots that had been received in the mail through Tuesday, about 20 percent of the 340,000 mailed out, County Auditor Carolyn Diepenbrock said. It's hard to say how many more ballots are heading in through the mail, Diepenbrock said. "We haven't done all-mail ballots enough to know what percentage is still out there or how many voters hold onto their ballots until election day," she said. More election results are expected to be released later today, Thursday and Friday. Workers have yet to tally an estimated 10,000 or 15,000 ballots that were dropped off at collection locations around the county on election day. Any ballots cast on electronic voting machines will be added to totals on Friday, Diepenbrock said. Berkey and Sullivan were running for County Council District 2, which represents Everett and Mukilteo on the council. The seat is held by Democrat Kirke Sievers, who is finishing his third term. He is barred by term limits from seeking another term, so he is running for treasurer on the November ballot. Berkey, 68, of Everett, said she thinks the election night returns are usually indicative of the final vote totals and likely will hold. "It's very disappointing," she said. "I'll still be in the senate and I'll work very hard to represent the people of the 38th legislative district." She said the pick-a-party ballot might have hurt her race by reducing the number of voters casting partisan ballots. Berkey is a state senator in the 38th legislative district. She's been in Olympia since 2001 after she was appointed to the House of Representatives. She was later appointed to the state Senate and won her first full term in 2006. Sullivan, 49, of Mukilteo, said that if the results hold, he believes he'll be the first Mukilteo resident to represent County Council district 2. "I'm kind of proud of that," he said. "I really speak to the global issues of the two communities, the environment being the big one, growth and housing." "I think Sen. Berkey ran a good race and works hard and did her best." Sullivan is a state representative in the 21st legislative district and former Mukilteo mayor and councilman. He works for the county as the coordinator of Snohomish County Tomorrow, a growth planning group made up of cities. Sullivan spent nearly $44,000 of the nearly $52,000 he raised; Berkey raised about $51,000 and spent about $25,000. The two candidates staked out different ground on whether Snohomish County's airport, Paine Field, should someday have more commercial flights. Berkey said yes, so long as jet noise was reduced for residents. Sullivan said the county isn't ready for a major expansion, and airlines aren't interested. The winner faces Republican newcomer Bill Cooper, 55 of Mukilteo, in the general election. In the county clerk's race, all three candidates said that a morale problem, fueled by the inability of the rank-and-file to negotiate a labor contract, has been the biggest issue within the office charged with keeping records for Superior Court. Kraski, 42, has worked in the office for 22 years. She's worked her way up from file clerk to become manager of the domestic violence and family law facilitator section. Lacking name familiarity, she said her job was to get her name and qualifications before the voters in the three-person race. Dantini, 57, has been the county treasurer for the last 12 years. He will be forced out of that job by term limits and seeks to move across the county campus to the courthouse. He didn't campaign extensively in the primary, and said his name familiarity and experience as an administrator would likely carry him to the November general election. Ron Ledford, 56, came in third place in election night results. He has been chief deputy clerk for the last seven years.

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