There are signs a rare funnel cloud of fury may touchdown on Everett this election.
And Councilman Drew Nielsen and Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher may be blown out of office if it arrives.
Both incumbents are opposed by unions representing the city’s firefighters and rank-and-file wor
kers. Each had to loan their campaign money to keep pace with their opponents’ fundraising.
And neither enjoys the endorsement of one of the city’s most powerful political players, the mayor.
In fact, Mayor Ray Stephanson wants to see Nielsen defeated badly enough that he’s endorsed the councilman’s opponent, Erv Hoglund.
“Erv understands and will represent the values of Everett citizens with honesty and integrity,” Stephanson read from a prepared statement Friday. “I believe he will be a strong team member on the Everett City Council.”
Stephanson isn’t publicly taking sides in the battle between Stonecipher and Scott Bader — which for many will signal he’s privately rooting against her. Bader does have the coveted backing of the last Everett mayor, Ed Hansen.
What’s fueling this potential storm of change?
Though it’s certainly not one thing, it seems clear city workers and a few of the old political guard soured on the incumbents for their unflagging support of spending a big wad of tax dollars to fix up an old bank building for use by the Village Theater.
Nielsen and Stonecipher ardently backed shelling out in the neighborhood of $4 million for renovations of the building and sprucing up a surrounding plaza. It’s not like folks didn’t appreciate the goal. Those lining up against the incumbents fault them for bad timing — pushing the City Council to dish out those dollars while freezing pay and cutting funds elsewhere to balance the budget.
Beyond issues, there is a partisan dynamic to the Hoglund-Nielsen match-up.
Hoglund is well known in the community as a Republican Party stalwart. He’s run four times for state office. While he lost each time, a lot of voters will open their ballot and recognize his name.
This is a contest for a nonpartisan office. For Hoglund, that makes the endorsement from Stephanson, a Democrat, very helpful in marketing himself to independent voters.
Nielsen is a Democrat and he’s not hiding it.
Check out his campaign web site and his endorsements include U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, state Sen. Nick Harper of Everett and state Rep. John McCoy of Tulalip, who, by the way, narrowly beat Hoglund in 2002.
There are Republicans among his supporters. For example, the Business Alliance of Snohomish County is a product of the Everett Chamber of Commerce and raises money for political campaigns from GOP sources.
Still, when push comes to shove, Everett is a Democrat town and Nielsen needs to capitalize on it in the remaining days of the campaign.
Bader is not as well known as Hoglund so odds of him upsetting Stonecipher are a bit greater.
It all depends on whether the winds of change are strong enough.
Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at www.heraldnet.com. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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