Bui winning race for Everett judge seat
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, November 7, 2006
A woman who came to this country as a Vietnamese refugee when she was a child took an early lead Tuesday night in a race for a contested Everett District Court judge seat.
Tam Bui of Mukilteo was leading in early returns in her race with Lorrie Towers, also of Mukilteo, but counting will continue through the week.
About 22,000 votes were counted Tuesday in the district, which includes Everett, Mukilteo and parts of Marysville. There are more than 80,000 voters eligible to vote in the race.
“You never know. I’m cautiously optimistic,” Bui said Tuesday night. “There’s going to be a lot more votes coming, so I’m just sitting and waiting to see.”
They competed for a job held by Judge Thomas Kelly, who has been an Everett District Court judge for almost 33 years.
The job pays about $122,000 a year.
Bui said she is running for the judge seat partly because she wants to be a role model for others who come to this country. Towers was not available for comment.
The race came down to voters deciding which candidate they liked between two well-qualified women.
Bui, 39, is a state administrative law judge. She finished with a lead of more than 1,700 votes in the primary election, which narrowed a field of five candidates to her and Towers.
As a state judge, she hears a variety of cases such as child support and foster care. She also has been a substitute judge in Snohomish County Superior Court and in Everett District Court.
Towers, 47, is a part-time prosecutor and a part-time judge in the municipal courts of several Snohomish County cities.
Towers’ campaign focused on her 14 years of experience practicing at the District Court level, saying that made her better qualified for the job. As the Mukilteo prosecutor, she is frequently in the Everett court.
In the Northeast District Court race, Frank LaSalata had a solid lead early in the counting over Richard Pope. The district includes much of northeast King County and extends into Snohomish County at Bothell.
