"Early in the evening—before the first numbers even came in—The Stranger Election Control Board ran into Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, Nickels's outreach director Marco Lowe, and Nickels's campaign manager Viet Shelton, who did double duty running Casey Corr's campaign. They were drinking at a back table at Lola's and they looked confident. But as the night wore on it became clear that Nickels's guys should have focused more on the mayor's race and less on doorbelling for the mayor's pet Corr. Nickels, who's basically running unopposed, should have been scoring in the 70s, but as the numbers came in the mayor was dinking around in around the low 50s.
It was the story of the night. All the incumbents—Nickels, City Council Members Richard Conlin, Jan Drago, and particularly Richard McIver—weren't as secure as everyone had imagined. Nickels obviously isn't in any danger of losing his office, but his 54 percent showing after the second batch of numbers came through didn't inspire much more than a robotic and tepid sound bite from his campaign manager. "A clear majority of the voters have expressed their preference for the mayor and we're happy," said Shelton. Sensing he wasn't being terribly convincing, Shelton, who we caught up with at a party at Ocean City in the International District where supporters were trying hard not to look shocked at how well Al Runte was doing, adds for, um, emphasis, "Hey, we gained a half a percent in the second drop."
Congrats Greg. You managed to pick up a half a percent on Professor Al Runte, the mystery candidate we can't locate. He's not answering his phone. The Stranger's Party Crasher tried to track down Runte's party, which was supposed to be at the Municipal League. The bouncer at the door told him the party was there but had gone. However, there was not much evidence that the party was there to begin with. Four people were standing in a fluorescent-lit room, and one of them, a chirpy intern, was shaking a vase in which a quarter could be heard rattling around.
As for McIver, The Stranger Election Control Board found a grim scene at the offices of anti-monorail consultants Gogerty Stark Marriott, where folks like Henry Aronson showed up to cheer the longtime monorail foe. But McIver fared the worst of all the incumbent council members. After the second batch of numbers were released (around 9:25 p.m.), we totaled up the votes: 57 percent of primary voters were against Drago, 55 percent were against Conlin, and a staggering 63 percent were against McIver.
Early in the night McIver's two opponents—Dwight Pelz and Robert Rosencrantz—were neck in neck in the low 30s. When he fell behind Pelz after the second drop, the Rosencrantz party at the Miller Community Center was starting to clear out. "Oh, man I'm getting killed," Rosencrantz said, as about half a dozen supporters hovered around a computer in the foyer of the community center. Shortly afterward, they all went home, including Rosencrantz.
As for Pelz, he was shocked by Rosencrantz's early lead. When asked about Jan Drago's campaign, Pelz's campaign consultant—who is also working on Drago's campaign—said, "Well, my problem is Dwight right now." But Pelz was buoyant after the second drop. And even more so after the third drop. Standing in the crowd at Doc Maynard's in Pioneer Square with his union supporters (the Fire Fighters and SEIU), Pelz said, "This is really fantastic. We're five points behind an incumbent, who's only got 37 percent."
Another incumbent who was supposed to be doing well, Richard Conlin, was hovering just under 50 percent at the end of the night. "I'm not really surprised at how well she's doing," Conlin said of his opponent, Port Commissioner Paige Miller. "She's run for public office six times before and has plenty of name recognition."
When The Stranger Election Control Board showed up at Paige Miller's party, held in her giant house (beautiful hardwood floors) on high northern slope of Queen Anne Hill, she offered us two shots of Jack Daniels.
Another bleeding incumbent, City Council President Jan Drago, was holding steady at around 43 percent most of the night. Drago says she's pleased with the numbers and pointed out that early absentee ballots should have helped her more conservative opponent, former mayoral staffer Casey Corr, "and they're not."
Corr's party looked like a teen pizza party with young blond kids huddled in booths. He maintained that the numbers show "the voters want change." But they don't seem to want Corr all that much, who clocked in at 24.6 percent. Corr implored us as we headed out of his party: "I know it's an uphill battle, but what can I do to get your endorsement?"
At the end of the night we caught up with Christian Sinderman, a campaign consultant working with incumbent Jan Drago, and Richard McIver challenger Dwight Pelz. "I think some incumbents are doing better than others," said Sinderman, "Jan Drago and Richard Conlin can set out a tack where they can win. I think Richard McIver, with 37 percent, is in a world of hurt. Any time there's anxiety about the direction the city is going, incumbents need to work extra hard to keep their jobs."-from The Stranger.
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