EVERETT — The curtain comes down Tuesday on a primary election in which constraints of the pandemic compelled candidates to discard many traditional tools of campaigning and contacting voters.
COVID-19 put the kibosh on large in-person events such as fund-raisers and get-out-the-vote rallies. It quashed most door-to-door canvassing and forced candidates to debate each other virtually rather than in person.
In response, candidates looked to bolster their online presence by holding virtual town halls, posting issue-oriented videos and engaging actively on social media.
Snohomish County’s 488,000 registered voters have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to make their decisions.
An estimated 40% of voters are expected to cast ballots in the election which determines the finalists in races for local, state and federal offices. The top two candidates will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. The fate of school finance measures in Everett, Darrington and Lakewood will also be decided.
Entering the weekend, the rate of return was trending around 35%, said Snohomish County Auditor Garth Fell.
“I hope it will pick up and we’ll get there,” he said, referring to his original turnout projection.
From an operation standpoint, he said the challenge posed by the pandemic has been to keep enough personal protective equipment on hand for workers and to maintain physical distancing when members of the public come to the office.
And starting Tuesday night, when ballot counting begins, that process could be a little slower. Complying with distancing rules means fewer teams of workers can be deployed at the same time in the facility where ballots are processed and tallied, he said.
Voters are considering candidates for 18 seats in the state Legislature that represent Snohomish County.
The primary will winnow the field for several of them, including open Houses seats in the 44th Legislative District in central Snohomish County and the 10th Legislative District encompassing all of Island County and slivers of Snohomish and Skagit counties.
The county’s three incumbent Democratic members of Congress — Rick Larsen of Everett, Suzan Del Bene of Medina and Pramila Jayapal of Seattle — are all seeking re-election and face several foes.
All statewide executive jobs are on the ballot.
Tuesday will determine who will emerge as the opponent to Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee. There are 35 challengers to the two-term governor, who is expected to win the primary.
A half dozen Republicans have been visibly campaigning the most: initiative promoter Tim Eyman of Bellevue, Republic police Chief Loren Culp, former Bothell mayor Joshua Freed, Yakima physician Dr. Raul Garcia, Auburn state Sen. Phil Fortunato and Seattle businessman Anton Sakharov.
Although Eyman is the most prolific e-mailer in the bunch, Freed and Culp are pulling in the most money. Freed reported raising $1.5 million — he’s provided about 45% of the sum — and Culp was at nearly $1.1 million, as of July 30, according to campaign finance records.
Another closely watched contest is for lieutenant governor. The job is coming open as Democratic Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib is retiring.
The 11-person field includes two prominent Democrats, state Sen. Marko Liias of Lynnwood and Congressman Denny Heck of Olympia. Among Republicans, Ann Davison Sattler, who ran for Seattle City Council in 2019, has raised the most money. Republicans Marty McClendon, who lost to Habib in 2016, and Joseph Brumbles, who lost to Heck in a congressional race in 2018, are among the other competitors.
Ballots returned by mail do not require a stamp but must be postmarked no later than Aug. 4 to count.
They also can be placed in one of the county’s 30 designated drop boxes which will be open around the clock until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
It is not too late to participate. State law allows a person to register to vote, get a ballot and cast it the same day. There are three locations where this can be done in person from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
They are the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., in Everett; the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 16710 Smokey Point Blvd. in Arlington; and the Alderwood Water & Wastewater District office, 3626 156th St. SW, in Lynnwood.
Due to the coronavirus, all voters that show up at one of those sites will be required to wear a mask and maintain social distancing.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dospueblos.
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