Hobbs leads close Senate primary

Steve Hobbs could be on his way to the general election after a hotly-contested primary.

Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, was leading Lillian Kaufer of Snohomish in the Democratic primary election for 44th District state Senator.

Hobbs was ahead of Kaufer by 444 votes on Wednesday afternoon, The Enterprise deadline.

Hobbs had 4,064 votes, or just under 53 percent, while Kaufer had 3,620 votes, or 47 percent.

The winner faces incumbent Senator Dave Schmidt, R-Mill Creek, who was unopposed in Tuesday’s primary.

Hobbs said “I really ran on the issues. I’ve hammered them home the entire campaign – transportation, health care and jobs. Those are the things voters are concerned about.”

Kaufer admitted Tuesday night to being in “good spirits” and that she remained “cautiously optimistic” because only 7,696 votes had been counted in a wide-ranging district that includes all of the cities of Mill Creek, Snohomish, Lake Stevens and parts of Everett and Marysville.

“These are very early voters,” Kaufer said. “We spent three weeks doing a ‘get out and vote’ campaign, and a lot of ballots were mailed Saturday, Monday and (Tuesday). Our party secretary said there are 40,000 ballots that need to be counted.

Snohomish County’s elections department is updating primary results each day at 5 p.m.

Should Hobbs’ lead hold through the final tally, it would set up a general election race where both candidates have military backgrounds. Schmidt, the incumbent, serves in the National Guard while Hobbs is a veteran of the current Iraq war.

The Hobbs-Kaufer race was marked by squabbling between the two candidates and a division in the Democratic party. Hobbs was asked to withdraw from the race by members of the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee.

Kaufer was endorsed by the 44th District Democrats and received a sizable campaign donation from the district committee. Kaufer also accused Hobbs of being backed by special interests, in part because he received substantial campaign contributions from labor unions.

“That’s just the way primaries are,” Hobbs said. “You have two candidates who are getting their issues out there, and the voters make the choice.”

Neither Hobbs nor Kaufer have held political office before. Kaufer’s bid was her first foray, while Hobbs ran unsuccessfully for Snohomish County Council as a Democrat against Dave Sommers in last year’s primary.