Five things we learned from Tacoma, Pierce County primary election results
It’s a cherished tradition this time of year.
Backyard cookouts. Summer camp. Family vacations.
And a taste of democracy.
On Tuesday, early results from Pierce County’s Primary Election were released. With one update of the auditor’s website, the next three months of local politicking quickly came into focus. At the same time, the dreams of many would-be office holders were dashed.
Here are five things we learned:
The race for Tacoma mayor just got weird
Tacoma could have had a mayoral contest this November that put the last year of turmoil over the killing of Manuel Ellis — and the city’s response — on the ballot. In Jamika Scott, the 34-year-old co-founder of Tacoma Action Collective, the city had a young Black candidate who stood in firm opposition to incumbent Victoria Woodards’ handling of the tragedy and the community’s call for long overdue police reform.
Instead, we get Steve Haverly.
Haverly, a 52-year-old with a background in construction, surely means well, but he’ll face an uphill battle for votes and political credibility moving forward. His campaign signs suggest “It’s time for unity” — which was apparently enough to sway more than 5,000 local voters, and just over 33 percent of the initial ballot drop (compared to Woodards’ 53 percent and Scott’s 12 percent) — but the general election will now bring more focus and scrutiny on his unconventional candidacy.
Are Tacoma voters really interested in replacing the experienced Woodards with a left-field candidate who — at least at this juncture — remains difficult to take seriously?
Just how would Haverly achieve “unity”? What does he mean?
And will his Survivor audition tape from 2001 become a campaign issue?
I guess we’ll find out.
A litmus test in Puyallup
The good news for voters in Puyallup’s District 2 — at least in one sense — is that both candidates they’ll have to choose from come November live clearly within the district’s boundaries.
The challenge they now face is deciding between two political hopefuls that bring two very different perspectives and skill sets to the table.
After Tuesday night’s ballot drop, Dennis King and Joe Colombo appeared poised to move on to the November’s general election. King is well known — his family having owned and operated the beloved Tiffany’s skate rink for 50 years — while Colombo has increased his local profile recently by helping to push the city forward on issues of equity and inclusion.
One important issue where the candidates will likely differ considerably is homelessness and how to deal with it — which is already something the city has been grappling with for years. King touts the endorsement of hardliners like Jim Kastama and repeatedly told The News Tribune editorial board earlier this summer that he’s running — at least in part — to prevent “Seattle-style politics” from infecting his hometown. Colombo, meanwhile, has aspirations for achieving “functional zero homelessness” by increasing services and finding sustainable ways to further things that are already working, like the city’s ongoing experiment with a hotel-based shelter.
If it seems like homelessness is on the ballot every year in Puyallup, that’s because it is.
This November will be no different.
A difficult decision looms in Tacoma’s District 5
Beyond the city’s mayoral race, there will be no shortage of intrigue on the November general election ballot for Tacoma voters. When City Council incumbents Lilian Hunter and Chris Beale both decided against reelection bids, it opened the door for new leaders and new voices.
In District 5 — which serves the South Tacoma and South End neighborhoods — one of the most interesting races in recent memory is now shaping up, at least in part because of this shake up.
While Tuesday night’s vote totals will change over the coming days, it appears that 31-year-old Joe Bushnell — whose mother came to the United States from Cambodia as a refugee, and who later served roughly a decade in the Marines — will face off against Anne Artman, the 60-year-old founder of the Tacoma Recovery Center.
Both are strong candidates with a wealth of lived experiences who would help to bring much needed perspective and diversity to Tacoma government. Bushnell would be the first Cambodian American to serve on the council, while Artman would provide the perspective of a Black woman who’s spent decades getting things done for those who need it most.
In other words, District 5 voters will have everything they could ask for this November: two quality choices, both clearly capable of doing the job.
Now they just have to choose.
A decent night for local measures
They’re not sexy. They lack intrigue. And they’re easy to ignore.
But local propositions, tax levies and levy lid lifts make the world go round.
Throughout Pierce County, a number of smaller communities were watching intently as measures that would help pay for things like emergency medical and fire response were on the ballot. In Steilacoom, Proposition 1 would fund emergency medical care and services, while Key Peninsula Fire was seeking a multi-year levy lid lift. East Pierce Fire & Rescue had two propositions up for consideration: the first was a regular property tax levy to fund EMS, and the second was a multi-year levy lid lift.
As of Tuesday night’s initial ballot drop, all except East Pierce Fire & Rescue Proposition 2 were passing.
Early August primaries continue to be the worst
Simply put, late summer is a lousy time to hold an election — particularly an odd year election — and this year’s primary is well on its way to proving it once again.
As of Tuesday night’s initial ballot drop, Pierce County’s turnout stood at an anemic 12.7 percent — and the picture isn’t expected to get much rosier by the time all the votes are counted. Earlier this week, the Pierce County Auditor’s Office was projecting a 25 percent turnout for the August primary. That’s disappointing any way you slice it, even before considering that Pierce County’s turnout also appears to be lower than … well … just about everywhere else in the state.
Justifiably and historically, these bi-yearly examples of local democratic apathy have inspired no shortage of lamentation, often for good reason. Particularly in a vote-by-mail state, it’s not hard to cast a ballot — it’s incredibly easy, in fact — and it’s disheartening to see participation wane so precipitously, time and time again. Yes, there’s math at play — like the large number of voters who registered last year during the contentious presidential election — but still: it stinks.
At the same time, we should also be careful not to lay too much of the blame at the feet of disengaged voters.
Washington first held its primary election in August instead of September back in 2007. At the time, it was a compromise designed to ensure that election workers have enough time for things like the certification of close elections and the distribution of general election ballots, but not so early that incumbent candidates have their fundraising abilities crimped by state law on in-session fundraising.
It’s also not working.
“July and August are our nicest months of the year, in the summer. Washingtonians, all of us, we love to go outside and enjoy the Puget Sound. To a lot of people, politics are the farthest thing from anyone’s mind,” one-time Clark County auditor and longtime local political strategist Ron Dotzauer told me back in 2016 (if that’s any indication of how long I’ve been fruitlessly beating this drum).
“We’re asking people to focus,” Dotzauer continued. “It’s just silliness.”
It sure is.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
