By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
A state lawmaker from near Bothell, a Silvana farmer and incumbent, and a Snohomish engineer led their party rivals in the race for the Nov. 6 ballot in the Snohomish County Council races.
In early results, state Rep. Dave Schmidt was ahead of Pam Pruitt for the Republican spot in the 4th Council District, which covers part of the south county.
Jeff Sax, a Snohomish man in his first race for public office, narrowly led fellow Republican Chad Minnick in the central and east county’s 5th District.
And Democrat and incumbent Mike Ashley was well ahead of challenger Chris Laird in the 1st District, which covers the county’s northern half.
The other candidates in each race faced no primary opponents from their own parties.
Schmidt, a four-term state lawmaker, was late entering the race, delayed by a drawn-out legislative session and the campaigning limits that accompanied it. But the Bothell resident had the advantage of widespread name recognition from his string of victories in the 44th Legislative District, the most recent in 2000.
Pruitt, a former Mill Creek city councilwoman and mayor, was hit by an opposition campaign from a neighboring family angered by a property dispute with her. That family sent more than 12,000 letters to area voters urging them not to vote for her.
Schmidt predicted his early lead would hold as more ballots were counted.
"I feel really good about that," he said. "There would have to be something out there that would have to make there be a huge shift."
The top Republican will face Democrat and Mountlake Terrace Mayor Dave Gossett in the general election.
The candidates in the contested District 5 Republican primary couldn’t bank on name recognition; neither had sought public office before.
But Sax quickly assembled backing from key Republican supporters, including the state party and the building industry.
By Tuesday, the engineer and former salesman of industrial pollution cleaning equipment had assembled a war chest of more than $47,000, more than any other council candidate except Republican John Koster, who is running in the 1st District.
Minnick, a marketing and political consultant who joined the race late and raised far less money, had pitched himself as the candidate with more political experience.
The winner of that contest will face incumbent Dave Somers, a Democrat, and Libertarian Don Polson in the general election.
Sax said early results, which showed the two Republicans combining for several hundred votes fewer than Somers, meant it would be a hard-fought race in November.
"I think you’re going to see a united Republican front," he said.
Meanwhile, Ashley, the only incumbent with a primary challenger, appeared to be handily beating fellow Democrat Laird.
Laird, a pressman for a Skagit Valley newspaper and a newcomer to political campaigns, had mounted a low-budget race against the Silvana farmer.
Ashley, who was selected in January to fill the seat left open when Rick Larsen was elected to Congress, has garnered the backing of labor, environmentalists and the state Democratic party.
The winner of that race will face Republican and former state lawmaker John Koster, and Libertarian Frank Ball Sr. in November.
The candidates of smaller parties all appeared to be getting the 1 percent minimum number of votes required to advance to the general election.
The final results will set the stage for a high-stakes election season for the county council.
With three seats up for election, all now held by Democrats, the party control of the council and its direction on important land-use decisions hang in the balance.
Those three seats have represented a block in several important 3-2 votes. Most recently, that split came for new development limits restricting how many homes could go on an acre of land in a widely used type of housing project.
The council now has four Democrats and one Republican.
The races have garnered attention from state political parties, as well as the housing industry, labor unions and environmentalists, who have all begun pumping money into the campaigns.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
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