Winning council candidates speak fondly of each other

A law firm administrator and a retired Tacoma Public Schools employee will square off in November for the Tacoma City Council’s District 1 seat representing the West End and parts of the North End.

Anders Ibsen and Karen Smitherman emerged from a field of four candidates to advance Tuesday in the city’s only council contest to draw a primary runoff this year.

Ibsen was in the lead with Smitherman running a close second, according to results posted by the Pierce County Auditor’s Office. Rounding out the field were Joe Atkinson and Carl Alexander. Only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.

The council’s Position 1 seat comes open at year’s end, as two-term Councilman Spiro Manthou is term-limited.

Ibsen and Smitherman each expressed optimism late Tuesday as they head into the next phase.

“I’m grateful to my opponents for being so intelligent about the issues and the community,” Ibsen said. “I’m looking forward to working just as hard in the general.”

“I’m feeling really honored, actually,” Smitherman said. “I’m honored that the voters want to see change and common sense on the City Council, and I think that’s what I can bring.”

The candidates also spoke fondly of each other. Ibsen was a student at The Tacoma School of the Arts while Smitherman served as one of its administrators.

“I think Karen Smitherman is a very intelligent and decent-hearted person, and I look forward to having a robust debate with her on the issues,” Ibsen said.

“Anders is a very nice young man, and I’ve always enjoyed working with him,” Smitherman added.

Ibsen, 25, is a Proctor resident who recently took on the deputy director of operations job at his wife, Beverly’s, law firm, The Landmark Law Group in Bellevue. He has been active on several local boards and with Democratic campaigns. While a senior at The Evergreen State College in 2008, he became the youngest supervisor elected to the Pierce County Conservation District.

Among his top priorities if elected, Ibsen said he’ll seek to improve the city’s infrastructure, create jobs and generally advocate on behalf of neighborhoods.

Smitherman, 59, a West End resident, served for 35 years as a public schools employee in a variety of positions, from teacher to administrator. She has long been active in Democratic Party politics with her husband, Bill, a former state representative and senator. During the primary campaign, Smitherman garnered a variety of endorsements and contributions from notable Democrats, partisan groups and labor unions.

She cites setting city budget priorities and creating jobs as her top issues.

During the primary, Smitherman and Ibsen held big money advantages over the other two candidates, with Ibsen amassing more than $28,000 in contributions, mostly from individual donors. He had spent more than $16,000, according to the latest campaign finance filings.

Smitherman’s primary war chest totaled more than $22,000, including significant donations from labor groups. She had spent about $9,000, filings show.

Although the District 1 race was the only council contest on the primary ballot, city voters will decide four Tacoma City Council races in all – including two district and two at-large contests – in November.

OTHER CITIES

In other primary races Tuesday:

Incumbent Mayor Debra Perry and longtime council member Leonard Sanderson will face off in the race for Milton mayor in November. Caleb Lewis, a 19-year-old college student running his first election, came in third in the city that straddles Pierce and King counties.

In Puyallup, Nicole Martineau and Steven Vermillion appear headed for the November ballot in the race for the at-large City Council seat. Martineau is already on the council but is vying for a different seat.

John Hopkins and Tom C. Smillie will advance in the contest for Puyallup’s District 1 Position 2 seat.