Primary election: Shoreline voters divided

Published 6:03 am Tuesday, February 26, 2008

SHORELINE – Shoreline voters are sending incumbent Rich Gustafson and political newcomer Cindy Ryu on to the Nov. 4 general election. Local environmentalist Janet Way and incumbent Bob Ransom will face off in the general election.

Results from the Sept. 16 primary show Gustafson received 43 percent of the vote, and Ryu 38 percent. George Daher trailed with 18 percent of the vote and was eliminated from the race.

“The good news is that I’m leading,” Gustafson said. “It’s going to be a tough race, I knew that all along, so I’m looking forward to the campaign.

“To go into the finals knowing that you are the top vote getter is a great feeling,” Gustafson said. “To go into the finals knowing it’s a close race means it will be hard work for the next six weeks, and that I can’t take anything for granted.”

Ryu said: “It’s basically what I expected, and I really want to thank everyone who has helped my campaign with their time, money and vote in the primary race.”

She added, “It is telling that George Daher and I, the challengers, were able to garner more than half of the vote.”

Daher said, “it confirms that the majority of Shoreline voters want somebody else in there to keep us in a good spot, out of debt and running in the right direction. Cindy Ryu has 100 percent of my endorsement.”

In the other Council race, results show environmentalist Janet Way pulled 39 percent of the vote to incumbent Bob Ransom, who garnered 37 percent. Brian Doennebrink received 23 percent of the vote.

“I’m just thrilled,” Way said. “It was really a grassroots, people’s campaign. I ran with the environment out front, and I think people responded to that.”

Way said the results show “that there is huge support in the community for the merchants and that the city has way over-estimated support for their Aurora Corridor plan. We need to approve Aurora, but we don’t need to sacrifice the diverse small business community there.”

Ransom said the primary results didn’t surprise him.

“Democrats always do better at the polls than I do, so I think, when they count the absentee ballots, that I’ll pull even with her and maybe even slightly ahead,” Ransom said.

Ransom said Doennebrink “was really taking away votes that would otherwise come to me, so I think I’ll get a bigger percentage of his vote than she will. Although the general will be a very close race.”

Ransom said the city should negotiate more with the business community on the Aurora Corridor plan.

“The Aurora Corridor is the only real issue for dissidents in Shoreline. If it didn’t exist, there is no other issue big enough to bring out dissidents or money in the campaign. If we can resolve that conflict and negotiate more with the businesses, then it would subside,” he said.

Doennebrink said he is disappointed, but “I knew it was an uphill battle when I got into this race against an incumbent and another candidate who has been working for several months longer than I have.

When asked if he’d be campaigning for one of the other candidates, Doennebrink said that he “hadn’t thought about that … but Bob’s views are probably closer to my own.”