With the election rapidly approaching, here are some things to look for:
Electing judges in August
Because of Washington’s strange rules on judicial elections, we’ll elect at least one state Supreme Court judge, two King County Superior Court judges and one Snohomish County Superior Court judge in the August primary.
Those elections have only two candidates each; so the leading vote getter will certainly get a majority of the primary vote and run unopposed in November.
The same thing is possible but not likely in one other Supreme Court position and one Snohomish County Superior Court position. Each of those positions has three candidates, meaning that the top two vote getters will face off in November unless someone gets a majority in August.
One Supreme Court judge, an appeals court judge and 13 Snohomish County Superior Court judges are running unopposed.
In any other non-partisan election — like positions on a school board or city council — the top two candidates in a three- or four-person primary qualify for the general election, but we have no primary if there are only one or two candidates. We should have the same rule for judges.
Such a change would mean that we would decide the election in November when more people vote, and it would save time and paper for state and county elections officials.
Someone introduced a bill in the 2007 Legislature to make that change, but it died in committee.
Electing PCOs in August
The non-partisan top-two primary will have one small partisan spot. That’s where we’ll pick either the Republican or the Democratic precinct committee officer for our neighborhoods.
You’ll have to choose between voting for a Republican PCO or a Democratic PCO, but you won’t be making any other commitments.
Two years ago, most precincts in King and Snohomish counties had no PCO candidates for one party or the other, and many, like mine, had no candidates for either.
You can find out who’s running by checking the county elections Web site.
Otherwise, you’ll know when you see your mail ballot. If there’s a blank on your ballot, you can become a registered write-in candidate by submitting a form with a $1 fee by election day. Get the required number of votes, and you can be in a position to influence party policy.
An interesting election for state treasurer
With Democratic state Treasurer Mike Murphy retiring, we have an interesting race to succeed him.
Murphy is supporting his long-time assistant, Allan Martin, running as a Republican. He faces two Democrats: state Rep. Jim McIntire of Seattle and Chang-Mook Sohn, who recently retired as executive director of a state council that forecasts revenues. McIntire is the council’s chairman.
Evan Smith is Enterprise forum editor. Send comments to him at entopinion@heraldnet.com.
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