Incumbents sail to wins in local races

Published 12:09 pm Thursday, February 21, 2008

All of the Democratic incumbents in the First Congressional District and 21st and 32nd state legislative districts will be returned to office.

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, was leading GOP challenger Joe Marine of Mukilteo 53 percent to 43 percent as of the Enterprise’s deadline Nov. 6.

“I’m very pleased, and it shows a lot of work by a lot of folks on the campaign,” Inslee said after the first set of returns, which had him leading 57 percent to 40 percent. We relied on grass-roots politics here rather than money,” he said from a party at a restaurant in Richmond Beach. Inslee said he spent only $20,000 on one set of mailings and used yard signs, purchasing no advertising. This leaves him with $800,000 in the bank for his next campaign, he said.

Marine joked that the first returns were “better than the primary.” While he did not sound optimistic, he held out hope that newspaper endorsements from the Everett Herald, Eastside Journal and Seattle Times would influence late voters. The Enterprise endorsed Inslee.

“We’re watching,” he said.

In the 21st Legislative District, Sen. Paull Shin, D-Mukilteo, was sailing to a second term with 62 percent of the vote against first-time challenger Cheryl Potebnya, an Edmonds Republican who received 38 percent.

Shin said he felt grateful to his constituents “who placed their trust and confidence in me to give me the responsibility” of representing them. The wide margin of victory, he said, “is more than a vote of confidence.”

Potebnya did not return a phone call from The Enterprise.

Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, also had little trouble in his race, leading GOP challenger Jeff Thorp of Everett 60 percent to 40 percent.

Cooper said he spent about $50,000 total – only about half of what he’s spent in past elections, he said – relying on doorbelling and direct mailing. The fact that Thorp was a latecomer to the race, filing on the last possible day, and did not run an active campaign was part of the reason for the toned-down campaign, Cooper said.

He added, “My sense was that the voters felt pretty good about the work I was doing in the 21st District.”

Cooper, who helped write Referendum 51, the statewide transportation revenue package that was defeated, spoke from the pro-R-51 party in Seattle.

“I think we’ve (the Legislature) got a lot of big challenges ahead of us on traffic,” along with the projected $2 billion budget deficit. “We don’t even know who the majority (party will be) yet.”

Thorp could not be reached for comment.

In the other 21st District House race, incumbent Rep. Brian Sullivan, D-Mukilteo, held a comfortable lead over GOP challenger Micheal Huisman of Edmonds, 60 percent to 40 percent.

Huisman was good natured and philosophical in apparent defeat after the second set of numbers showed him still trailing 60 to 39 percent.

“It would be nice if I could hit on the other side of 40 (percent) somewhat,” he said. But “it’s basically going about how I thought it would go.”

Huisman said money apparently made little difference in the races as his was closer than Potebnya’s, though she purchased advertising and he did not.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to compete moneywise” with Sullivan, Huisman said. So he figured if he were to spend little, Sullivan would do the same, and such appeared to be the case.

“Getting him not to spend money was the best opportunity I had to match funds with him,” Huisman said. As it turns out, “I saved myself some money, I saved myself some aggravation,” he said.

Huisman marveled at how the 21st District, which in 1994 elected three Republicans, has done such an about-face. He said it may be that there is no burning issue or candidate with a big enough message to stir voters, “otherwise you’d see more movement.”

Sullivan did not return a phone call from The Enterprise.