Democrats take lead in Kitsap races, except one

Published 3:14 pm Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Aside from one legislative race, the Democrats apparently swept all of the local elective offices on Tuesday night.

In the race for the state House of Representatives from the 26th District, Position 1, South Kitsap Commissioner Jan Angel held a narrow lead over Former Port Orchard Mayor Kim Abel.

Aside from that, Democrats won both county commissioner races, county auditor, and Superior Court judge. Additionally, Gov. Chris Gregoire outpolled Dino Rossi in Kitsap County.

Angel was ahead of Abel by one percentage point in the first report of Kitsap County votes. The district straddles Pierce County, which has not yet reported.

Abel, speaking in a crowd full of supporters, said she was encouraged that the early numbers in Kitsap County were so close.

“That’s good news,” Abel said. “It’s a good start — we’ll take it.”

“I’ve been feeling really positive lately, ” said Charlotte Garrido, who won her bid to be South Kitsap Commissioner against Tim Matthes. “I look forward to serving the county. I understand the economy and the environment, and the local people. I read everything that is put in front of me, and I will always be well prepared.”

Garrido’s election means that all the County Commissioners are Democrats. She said Tuesday night that she will not disenfranchise local Republicans and Independents.

“Bipartisanship is very important on the local level,” she said. “I am a Democrat. I ran as a Democrat. But I will represent all Kitsap citizens.”

Garrido led Matthes after the first count, 51 percent to 47 percent.

County Auditor Walt Washington beat back a challenge from Realtor John Clark, after an often contentious campaign. Clark criticized Washington for late filings, which led to a $300 fine from the Public Disclosure Commission. Clark also claimed the local auditor’s office should have power over the budget process. Voters were not moved, giving Washington 57 percent of the vote.

“I’m really happy, ” Washington said. “It was a vote of confidence from the people in Kitsap County. I’ve never liked negative campaigning. My opponent never said what he could do in the job, only the things that he thought I couldn’t do. I think that worked against him.”

As auditor, Washington supervised the election staff on Tuesday night, as the numbers reflected his margin of victory. He said his staff was “ecstatic” when he took the lead, saying “that meant a lot, that they wanted to work for me.”

Clark said his loss, along with other local Republicans, was the result of a trickle-down from the national political situation.

“If you are wearing an ‘R’ this year you are paying for the sins of George Bush, period, and I’m not George Bush,” he said.

The single contested race for the Kitsap County Superior Court, where Jeanette Dalton beat Bruce Danielson, is a non-partisan contest. The candidates, however, are identified as Democrat and Republican in their literature and affiliations.

Dalton won 58 percent to Danielson’s 41 percent.

“I’m elated,” she said. “I am looking forward to getting to work. I got a lot of calls in the last few weeks, from voters who had a lot of questions about the judiciary. They showed a lot of interest.”

The Kitsap bench is perfectly gender balanced. With Dalton’s election it will gain a female majority.

Dalton likened the race to the adversarial process, where two lawyers face each other “and the truth wills out.”

While the Democratic victory seems clear cut, the Republicans haven’t given up. Kitsap County Republican Chairman Jack Hamilton said that Matthes should not be counted out.

“The turnout was phenomenal,” Hamilton said. “No matter what else happened we got the voters in Kitsap interested enough to send in a ballot, that is a victory, the next victory is to get them to understand the message and vote for us.”

Justine Frederiksen and Sean Roach contributed to this report.

For official results click here.

Totals are updated regularly.

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