Twenty-five-year-old political activist Anders Ibsen appears to be the only new face headed for Tacoma’s City Council next year as he held a comfortable lead late Tuesday over retired school teacher Karen Smitherman in the lone open council race on this year’s ballot.
As of final vote counts Tuesday, Ibsen was holding a six-point advantage over Smitherman.
“I’m elated,” Ibsen said. “I think people were just very eager for a new direction. And frankly, we worked hard.”
In the city’s three other council races Tuesday, incumbents David Boe, Ryan Mello and Lauren Walker each were coasting to victory against overmatched challengers who did little or no campaigning.
The contest pitting Smitherman against Ibsen promised to be the city’s best race, as the two vied for the open District 1 seat representing the city’s West End and parts of its North End. The winner replaces term-limited Councilman Spiro Manthou in the part-time position paying $39,093 per year.
Both candidates campaigned on similar issues, both garnered reputable endorsements, and both raked in big campaign cash.
Ibsen, 25, a Proctor resident and administrator at his wife’s law firm, crossed his district four times to knock on doors during the campaign. He touted himself as a Tacoma native who would “work tirelessly” on neighborhood issues, while seeking to improve public infrastructure and drawing new jobs to town.
Smitherman, 59, a West End resident and retired Tacoma public schools teacher, campaigned as a seasoned mother of two and wife of former state lawmaker Bill Smitherman. She cited maturity and career experience as making her the clear choice for a council she said needed “wisdom.”
Ibsen took the most votes in August’s four-candidate primary, with Smitherman just three percentage points behind.
The contest was mostly genial, but took a turn in its final weeks when revelations emerged in public records that Smitherman was demoted from a school administrator’s job in 2004 after three black students complained about her. Smitherman unsuccessfully tried to block release of the records, and her supporters later blamed Ibsen for orchestrating their release. He denied it.
Heading into Election Day, the latest campaign finance records showed Smitherman held a slight money advantage, with about $45,140 in total contributions compared to Ibsen’s $43,719. But she also took on more than $9,100 in debt, while Ibsen held a big lead in cash-on-hand as the race drew to a close.
In the other City Council races Tuesday, three well-funded incumbents easily defeated opponents who raised no money and were virtually nonexistent on the campaign trail.
DISTRICT 3
Lauren Walker easily downed Robert “The Traveller” Hill in the race for the council seat representing the city’s Hilltop and Central Tacoma neighborhoods.
Walker, executive director of the nonprofit Fair Housing Center of Washington, campaigned on a record of supporting social services and a platform she described as bringing “kindness in city policies.”
For much of the campaign, Hill was in the Pierce County Jail, being arrested at least three times for various charges and held without bail pending a mental health evaluation after one arrest.
Earlier Tuesday, Chief Don Ramsdell arrested Hill during the City Council meeting. Police found a canister of pepper spray on Hill during the arrest, a city spokesman said.
DISTRCT 7
In his first bid for election, appointed incumbent David Boe defeated Mike Hardy for the council’s at-large District 7 seat.
Boe, 50, a married father of two and West End resident, touted his experience in land use issues as an asset for a council that regularly faces controversial development projects. He is as an architect and former Planning Commission member.
Hardy, 56, a union electrician and former two-time commander of Tacoma’s American Veteran’s Post No. 1, sporadically campaigned as a voice for the city’s working class.
DISTRICT 8
Appointed Councilman Ryan Mello easily defeated perennial candidate Will Baker in the run-off for the council’s at-large District 8 seat.
Mello, 32, a Central Tacoma resident and Pierce County director for Forterra – the nonprofit formerly known as the Cascade Land Conservancy – campaigned on improving economic development and transportation infrastructure.
Baker, a regular candidate for office, did not actively campaign.
Lewis Kamb: 253-597-8542 lewis.kamb@thenewstribune.com
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