By Warren Cornwall and Jim Haley
Herald Writers
Urban and rural Snohomish County voters split in the recent election, leaving both political parties celebrating some wins and studying how to boost their fortunes elsewhere.
Rural areas in the north and east provided strong voting blocks for successful Republican-supported initiatives and candidates in the Nov. 6 election.
Meanwhile, two winning Democratic legislative campaigns found their deepest support in the hearts of urban districts, according to a Herald analysis of voting patterns.
The results show Republicans need to reconsider how to win over more urban voters, said Snohomish County Republican Party chairwoman Frauna Hoglund.
"I think the Republican Party needs to look at their message a little bit and look at whether the way we’re giving our message is wrong," she said.
Likewise, her Democratic counterpart, Kent Hanson, said he just appointed Dave Somers as the county party’s second vice chairman, with an eye toward regaining two county council seats lost to Republicans. One of those seats was Somers’.
"We will maybe spend some time thinking about how we reclaim our seats," Hanson said.
Mukilteo resident Tim Eyman was buoyed by news that the city where he lives backed I-747, which he sponsored. But he said little about why support might have been weakest in the most urban part of the county.
"I think just bottom line it appealed to people’s common sense," Eyman said of the measure, which caps annual increases in property tax collections at 1 percent.
Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel, who opposed the initiative, said urban residents may be more willing to pay taxes because traffic problems are more severe and government services are more apparent.
"I think it was more a situation where there probably was more of a day-to-day observance of government services," he said. "You pay for what you see."
Political observers saw few surprises in the county’s two legislative races.
Older, more stable areas with middle class or older populations generally went for the Democrats in both the 21st and 38th legislative districts, said Snohomish County Auditor Bob Terwilliger.
That included the central parts of Everett, Edmonds and Lynnwood.
More affluent areas, such as Harbour Pointe in Mukilteo, Woodway, sections of Meadowdale and the south Everett section straddling Mukilteo Boulevard went for the Republicans.
New subdivisions on the hillsides above Marysville also sided with the GOP.
"I’d say they voted their pocketbooks," Terwilliger said, adding that those areas are considered fiscally conservative and wary of taxes.
Edmonds, historically known as a conservative community, may be changing demographically with a population that’s growing older, Terwilliger said.
Edmonds is where Democrat Brian Sullivan said he believes his message about solving traffic woes and curbing the cost of health care and prescription drugs played well.
"Honestly, I didn’t think I’d do as well as I did in Edmonds," Sullivan said.
His Republican opponent, appointed incumbent Joe Marine, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Initiatives may have helped draw rural voters with Republican leanings to the voting booth.
The county farming initiative, which was backed by Republican candidates and opposed by Democrats, probably helped recruit Republican votes, said Terry LaBrue, a Bellevue political consultant who worked for the Jeff Sax campaign. Sax, a Republican, defeated Somers.
"I think it assured those people they had an issue they could rally around and a candidate that supported them," he said.
Sax won the election with votes from outside the cities in his east county district. Within the cities, Somers led by roughly 1 percent, while Sax won the election by 4 percent.
Hanson agreed the initiatives likely helped boost Republican turnout. He also said Democrats failed to effectively get voters out. He pointed to low voter turnout — less than 45 percent in all three county council elections — as one reason for the Democrats’ losses.
"Democrats have a tendency, unless there’s a real pressing issue, not to go to the polls," he said.
Koster said he focused heavily on Marysville and north Lake Stevens with door-to-door campaigning. That likely helped win votes there, he said. While Koster lost Lake Stevens, he won in Marysville and dominated Arlington.
In the Republican camp, party chairwoman Hoglund said she was puzzling over how the party could better reach urban voters. Support for I-747 showed voters were sympathetic to tax-control efforts, something she said Republicans are strong on.
"The voters are giving us mixed signals here, with how they voted on 747 and how they voted otherwise," she said.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
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