Two Lynnwood councilmen had filed for mayor by the fourth day of filing week and two former council members had filed to return to the council.
Councilman Loren Simmonds filed for mayor Thursday morning, joining Councilman Mark Smith and political newcomer Nicola Smith, both of whom had announced their candidacies in March. Two-term incumbent Mayor Don Gough had yet to announce whether he would run a day before the Friday filing deadline.
Simmonds challenged Gough four-years ago, as did then-council members Jim Smith and Lisa Utter. Smith survived the primary and lost to Gough in the general election,
Mark Smith has to give up his council seat to run for mayor, Simmonds is in the middle of a four-year term,
Jim Smith is one of two former council members trying to return to the council. He has filed to run for the position that Mark Smith is giving up to run for mayor.
The other one is former Councilwoman Ruth Ross, who is seeking the position that she lost four years ago to current Councilwoman Kerri Lonergan-Dreke,
Jim Smith lost the position that he held on the council for many years to current Councilman Van Aubuchon in the 2012 election by 10 votes out of 7,260 votes after a hand recount,
Filing to oppose former Councilman Smith is former Edmonds Community College administrator Shirley Sutton.
Both will advance to the November general election if they are the only two candidates. They will have to run in the primary if one or more additional candidates file.
Ross will face at least three other candidates in the August primary in her attempt to replace Lonergan-Dreke, who apparently won’t run for professional reasons. The three are Planning Commissioner Maria Ambalada, professional engineer Ian Cotton and real estate broker Douglas Lovitt. The top two vote-getters in the primary advance to the November general election.
The other Lynnwood City Council contest on this year’s ballot also will have a primary, with appointed incumbent Councilman Christopher Boyer facing Michael Moore, who lost to Simmonds in 2011, and political newcomer James Robert Deal.
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