Democrats expect exciting 1st District state senate race

Published 11:30 am Monday, August 1, 2016

By Evan Smith

The chairman of the 1st Legislative District Democrats says he expects an exciting contest in the Tuesday primary election for the state senate position that Democratic State Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe is giving up after six four-year terms.

District Democratic Chairman Dan Wilner said Thursday that both Democratic State Rep. Luis Moscoso and fellow Democrat Guy Palumbo had strong supporters among district Democratic precinct committee officers and dues-paying members who met in June to endorse candidates.

The Democrats endorsed Moscoso for the senate position, Shelley Kloba for the state representative position that Moscoso is giving up to run for the state senate and Derek Stanford for re-election to the state representative position that he has held for three two-year terms.

Moscoso, who also has served three terms in the House of Representatives, and Palumbo are running on the Tuesday primary ballot along with Republican Mindie Wirth, with the two leading candidates in the primary advancing to the Nov. 8 general-election ballot. Palumbo is an elected Snohomish County Fire District 7 commissioner and appointed Snohomish County planning commission member

Kloba, a Kirkland city council member, is one of five candidates for the position that Moscoso is leaving open. The others are Republican Jim Langston, and Democrats Aaron Moreau-Cook, Darshan Rauniyar, and Kyoko Matsumoto Wright.

Stanford is seeking re-election against fellow Democrat Kazuaki Sugiyama, and Republicans Neil Thannisch and Brian Travis.

The 1st Legislative District includes most of Mountlake Terrace, all of Brier and Bothell, north Kirkland, unincorporated areas of King County between Bothell and Kirkland and unincorporated areas of Snohomish County north and east of Bothell.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.