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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Ross Hunter officially announces run for King County Executive

Representative Ross Hunter (D-48th District), the Chair of the State House Finance Committee, just showed up at the King County Democratic Central Committee's April meeting to formally announce what many insiders have already known for some time: He's running for King County Executive.

Hunter's official entry makes him the fourth elected Democrat to throw his hat into the ring for Ron Sims' job. Hunter's competition includes County Council Chair Dow Constantine, County Councilmember Larry Phillips, and State Senator Fred Jarrett, all of whom entered the race weeks ago.

In his remarks to Democrats gathered here at the Renton Carpenters' Hall, Hunter emphasized that he "gets things done". He talked about three issues in particular: education, affordable housing, and transportation.

We anticipate he'll be rolling out his new campaign website soon.

Hunter will also be participating in next week's Executive candidate forum, sponsored by the King County Democrats, which will include the other three Democrats I mentioned above. I was asked to moderate, and I've happily accepted.

I'm really looking forward to facilitating a substantive conversation about the race and where King County needs to go in the next four years.

If you're free on Cinco de Mayo, I strongly encourage you to come and get to know the candidates better, especially if you're undecided about who to support.

King County Executive Candidate Forum
Renton Carpenters Hall (231 Burnett Avenue N, Renton, WA, 98057)
May 5th, 2009, 7:30 PM (social hour begins at 6:30 PM)
Sponsored by the King County Democrats Central Committee
The event is open to the media and the public. Readers are encouraged to come.

Comments:

Blogger Mike Barer said...

It's a crowded field but I think that Larry Phillips is clearly the frontrunner, what do you think?

April 28, 2009 11:32 PM  
Blogger Mr Baker said...

Affordable housing? His HB 2252 died in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. He, and Dow, testified in favor of the Senate Bill 6116 sponsored by Ed Murray and Jeanne Kohl-Welles. SB 6116 was overwhelmed by partisan bickering over husky stadium (which was removed at the last minute).
Will Ross Hunter champion on the House side the low-income housing component of SB6116 and get that passed in special session?

How would having him as County Exec have changed that situation?
He was co-chair of a Joint Committee "Local Financing Options for King County". The committee held meetings, had testimony, but did not produce a report or any legislation.
Did a single component of what the task force review actually have legislation passed?
These are, for the most part, non-general fund "tourist" taxes.

Maybe he should be county exec and live with what did not get done in the state legislature. It least you tried, I have to give you that.

April 29, 2009 7:54 AM  
Blogger Andrew said...

Regarding your question, Mike, I think the argument can be made that Phillips is ahead of the pack. He's been itching to run for a long time, and he got in first.

He has quite a few early endorsers who are loyally sticking with him, and money.

However, Dow Constantine is a formidable opponent. I went to an event of his to get a feel for how strong the support was for his campaign... it's strong.

I think the challenge for Larry and Dow is to figure out how to spend more time in the eastern part of the county. It's the reverse for Jarrett and Hunter who have not run for election in Seattle before.

Actually, none of them have represented rural areas... they would all be wise to get out to Skykomish, Duvall, Carnation, Enumclaw etc.

April 29, 2009 10:27 AM  
Blogger Evan said...

To Mark and Andrew, the democratic side of king county executive is a convoluted mess, there are many capable candidates in Fred Jarrett, Larry Phillips, Ross Hunter, and Dow Constantine. After going to the King County Executive Candidate Forum i saw Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips with the most visible support and then i thought Fred Jarrett and Dow Constantine were the most charismatic and gave the best answers. I read up on both and decided to try and go to an event or two. I went to Dow's Campaign kickoff a few days ago and i am sold. During his speech, it became very clear that he cares about the issues. After he speech i had a pleasant conversation with Dow and he was a smart down-to-earth guy with a no nonsense stance on the issues facing King County.

June 10, 2009 11:20 AM  

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