District Court judge’s race narrowed to two women

Two women will face off Nov. 7 to see who will be the next District Court judge in Everett, according to election results compiled through the week.

Tam Bui, a state administrative court judge, and Lorrie Towers, the part-time Mukilteo prosecutor, topped a field of five in the race for Position 2 in the Everett Division of Snohomish County District Court.

Third in the balloting was former Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Hulbert.

Two other candidates, deputy prosecutor Tim Geraghty and Lance Engle, who works for the state attorney general’s office, lagged behind the others.

The five sought a position that will be vacated at the end of this year by Judge Thomas Kelly, who will retire after 32 years on the bench.

Bui, 38, of Mukilteo, has worked as a substitute judge in several counties. She also has been in a private law practice, served as a public defender and worked for a time with Washington Appellate Defender Association.

A Vietnamese refugee, she came to the United States in 1975.

Towers, 47, of Mukilteo, also is a substitute judge in Lynnwood, Bothell, Edmonds and Marysville. Her 14 years of experience prosecuting cases and six as a part-time judge qualify her for the job, she said.

Towers also said she would like to make improvements in the court system.

The job pays about $122,000 a year.

Only voters in Everett and parts of the Mukilteo and Marysville areas will be able to vote in the race.

Bui and Towers finished first and second in the early returns Tuesday, and they maintained those positions as ballot counts continued through the week.

In a related matter, Snohomish County lawyers revised the results of a Snohomish County Bar Association poll of lawyers, executive director Joyce Wood said.

She said there was a counting error in the results released before the election.

In the revised poll, Bui finished at the top, followed by Geraghty, then Towers.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.